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BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 


C.  L.  KUiott,  Pinx.  1861 


MATTHEW   VASSAB 


BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

A  CONTRIBUTION  TO 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  HIGHER 

EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN 

IN  AMERICA 

BT 

JAMES  MONROE  TAYLOR 


BOSTON   AND   NEW   YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

(Cl)e  SUtecjtfibe  J^xc^^  Cambdtise 

1914 


T3 


COPYRIGHT,   I914,  BY  JAMES  MONROE  TAYLOR 
ALL   RIGHTS    RESERVED 

Published  May  zgi^ 


NOTE 

The  first  two  chapters  of  this  book  were  origi- 
nally published  in  the  Educational  Review  for 
October  and  November,  1912,  under  the  title 
of  "College  Education  for  Girls  in  America 
before  Vassar  opened." 


CONTENTS 

I.  At  the  South 1 

II.  At  the  North 34 

m.  The  Inception  of  Matthew  Vassar's  Plan    82 

IV.  The  Administration  of  President  Jewett  129 

V.  The  Reception  OF  Matthew  Vassar's  Plan  202 

VI.  The  Year  before  the  College  opened    .  241 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Matthew  Vassab Frontispiece 

From  the  portrait  painted  in  1861  by  C.  L.  Elliott. 

MiLO  p.  Jewett,  LL.D 90 

President  of  Vassar  College,  1861-1864. 
From  a  photograph. 

John  H.  Raymond,  D.D.,  LL.D 242 

President  of  Vassar  College,  1864-1878. 
From  a  photograph. 

Vassar  College:  Observatory,  Main  Building, 
Museum  270 

From  a  print  in  an  early  catalogue  of  the  college. 

Vassar  College  from  Sunset  Hill       .      .      .  280 

Main  Building  and  Museum,  also  used  as  the  Riding 

School. 
From  a  photograph. 


BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 


AT    THE   SOUTH 

The  movement  for  the  higher  education  of  wo- 
men was  so  slow  in  enlisting  the  interest  of  the 
country  that  it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that 
no  full  history  of  it  exists.  For  it  was  not  only 
slow,  but  obscure,  and  came  to  large  recogni- 
tion only  after  the  war,  when  a  great  gift  con- 
stituted a  college  that  could  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  a  people  absorbed  in  other  and  more 
pressing  interests.  Since  that  time  our  interest 
has  been  focused  on  progress  and  results, 
rather  than  on  origins,  and  history  has  been 
subordinated  to  prophecy.  The  details  of  the 
earher  record,  moreover,  must  be  sought  in  a 
scattered  literature  of  small  interest  to  any  but 
special  students,  in  catalogues,  in  government 
reports,  in  old  newspapers,  and  in  occasional 
histories  of  individual  institutions  and  in  bio- 
graphies of  leaders  of  more  or  less  distinction. 


2         BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

But  we  cannot  continue  content  with  the  pres- 
ent or  with  our  hopes,  and  must  ask  what 
early  steps  preceded  what  has  seemed  to  most 
the  sudden  bursting  of  a  new  idea  in  the  his- 
tory of  man.  That  Vassar's  opening  marked 
an  epoch  there  can  be  no  question,  and  the  so- 
cial and  economic  conditions  that  followed  the 
Civil  War  responded  immediately  to  the  new 
opportunity;  but  the  results  could  not  have 
been  so  immediate  and  so  encouraging  had  it 
not  been  for  the  efforts  of  many  pioneers  in  the 
North  and  in  the  South. 

The  enthusiasm  of  these  early  leaders  makes 
difficult  often  a  just  conclusion  as  to  the  de- 
gree of  advance  in  these  pioneer  colleges.  Often 
records  have  been  destroyed,  especially  in  case 
of  some  Southern  institutions,  and  we  are  con- 
fronted with  memories  of  that  old  and  golden 
time  of  the  early  fifties  or  forties,  or  we  have 
a  few  old  catalogues  which  are  suggestive  of 
ideals  rather  than  of  actual  performance,  and 
whose  gorgeous  rhetoric  leads  one  to  pause  at 
their  claims.  Even  where  the  general  evidence 
seems  good  for  the  enforcement  of  a  worthy 
curriculum,  we  often  find  ourselves  raising  the 


AT  THE  SOUTH  3 

question  as  to  the  possibility  of  giving,  under 
the  well-known  general  conditions  of  the  life  of 
the  time,  in  the  South  or  in  the  West,  an  edu- 
cation that  could  fairly  rank  with  that  of  the 
strong  colleges  of  the  East.  When,  for  exam- 
ple, a  small  Western  college  publishes  a  curric- 
ulum in  the  early  sixties  equal  to  that  of  Har- 
vard in  1870,  what  shall  we  think,  even  when 
we  have  the  favorable  witness  of  an  occasional 
man  trained  in  Yale  or  Harvard?  Certainly 
these  questions  are  not  to  be  settled  a  priori, 
or  by  prejudice.  With  an  open  mind  one  must 
study  faculty  lists,  equipment,  libraries,  and 
we  must  compare  them,  not  with  our  present 
standards,  but  with  those  known  to  us  as  ex- 
istent in  the  best  colleges  of  that  early  period. 
We  must  also  remember,  always,  how  much 
determination,  absorption  in  a  great  purpose, 
consecration  to  highest  service,  may  weigh,  in 
crudest  conditions,  against  vastly  better  op- 
portunities of  youth  of  less  purpose  and  of 
larger  temptations  to  the  squandering  of  time 
and  work.  But  in  the  case  of  "females,"  or 
"ladies,"  in  these  early  catalogues,  we  must 
also  ask  as  to  the  courses  opened  to  them,  and 


4         BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

the  Ladies*  Course,  and  the  Teachers'  Course, 
and  the  EngUsh  Course  we  may  be  sure  cover 
a  multitude  of  concessions  to  lower  standards, 
less  preparation,  and  smaller  results,  than 
existed  in  the  colleges  for  men.  In  dealing  with 
college  education  for  women,  in  the  time  pre- 
ceding 1865,  we  are  not  seeking  a  history  of 
names,  but  a  record  of  education  that  compares 
favorably  with  that  offered  to  young  men  in  our 
better  American  colleges.  Did  such  courses 
exist.''  Or,  what  efforts  were  made  to  offer  and 
maintain  them.'' 

We  are  treating  of  college  education,  but 
something  should  be  said  at  the  outset  regard- 
ing the  efforts  of  several  really  great  leaders 
who  estabUshed  successful  seminaries,  but 
whose  vision  and  purpose  were  far  beyond 
those  of  their  contemporaries.  Nothing  can 
be  properly  written  of  the  early  work  in 
America  for  the  education  of  girls  that  does 
not  express  a  tribute  of  praise  to  such  women 
as  Emma  Willard,  Catharine  Beecher,  and 
Mary  Lyon.  These  women  were  contempora- 
ries, though  Mary  Lyon's  Seminary  at  Hol- 
yoke   (1837)  dates  from  a  later  period  than 


AT  THE  SOUTH  5 

Catharine  Beecher's  first  school  at  Hartford 
(1822),  or  the  Troy  Seminary  of  Mrs.  Willard 
(1821) .  But  although  a  great  work  was  accom- 
plished by  each  of  the  three,  the  first  place  in 
the  movement  must  be  accorded  to  Emma 
Willard.  Nothing  in  those  early  days  com- 
pares in  influence  for  women  with  the  noble 
appeal  which  she  issued  from  Middlebury,  in 
1819,  to  the  general  public,  and  especially 
to  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Nothing  in  the  history  of  education  exceeds  in 
pathos,  or  in  scientific  spirit,  the  tests  which 
this  young  woman,  wife  of  a  college  professor, 
made  of  her  own  "female  brain,"  before 
attacking  the  large  problem  before  her.  Her 
famous  "plan"  contemplated  no  rash  reforms, 
but  based  itseK  on  an  appeal  for  women,  as 
such,  indicating  the  demands  for  reform  as 
shown  by  the  defects  of  present  education,  her 
own  project  for  a  female  seminary,  and  the 
resultant  benefits  to  society.  It  is  an  enlight- 
ened, skillful  document,  aiming  in  the  spirit  of 
a  true  statesmanship  at  the  best  possible  in 
existent  conditions,  pleading  for  a  consistent 
and  continuous  course  of  education,  and  em- 


6         BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

phasizing  ably  the  physical  and  intellectual, 
moral  and  spiritual  conditions  essential  to  it. 
It  would  not  satisfy  the  ideals  of  our  time,  nor 
was  it  meant  to,  but  it  was  one  of  the  chief 
influences  that  led  to  the  better  day.  It  was 
far  beyond  anything  then  proposed  or  known. 
Advocated  by  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished leaders,  a  bill  passed  the  New  York 
Senate  granting  to  Mrs.  Willard's  Seminary 
at  Waterford  $2000,  but  this  failed  in  the  As- 
sembly. Troy  raised  by  tax  $4000,  and  more 
by  subscription,  and  Mrs.  Willard  opened 
there  in  1821  the  Seminary  which  has  been 
successfully  maintained  ever  since,  and  has 
now  a  larger  promise  than  ever  before  through 
the  munificence  of  its  former  pupil  and  teacher, 
Mrs.  Russell  Sage. 

Catharine  Beecher's  work  in  Hartford,  most 
enlightened  and  progressive,  was  transferred 
to  Cincinnati  in  1832.  After  two  years,  failing 
health  compelled  her  to  abandon  it,  but  for 
many  years  she  continued  to  influence  public 
opinion  through  a  National  Board  formed 
there  by  her.^ 

*  Cf.  Boone,  R.  G.,  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  365. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  7 

Mary  Lyon,  a  noble  character  and  the  crea- 
tor of  a  noble  work,  has  been  more  fortunate 
in  having  her  name  associated  with  a  strong 
college  which  grew  out  of  her  seminary  about 
twenty  years  ago.  She  saw  distinctly  the 
need  to  make  a  school  financially  independent 
and  independent  of  its  principal.  She  there- 
fore sought  a  responsible  Board,  and  she 
planned  with  it  the  same  patient,  systematic, 
solid  course  of  study  which  she  had  already 
known  in  her  experience  at  Ipswich.  Her 
famous  and  long  continued  connection  of 
household  work  with  study  was  a  plan  formed 
solely  in  the  interests  of  economy,  though 
later  she  came  to  rejoice  in  the  thing  itself.* 
In  1837,  after  incredible  effort  and  sacrifice, 
the  seminary  was  opened.  It  established  a 
three-year  course,  and  its  first  entrance  re- 
quirements were  English  grammar,  modern 
geography.  United  States  history.  Watts  on 
the  Mind,  and  arithmetic.^  Mary  Lyon  fore- 
saw a  college,  but  she  knew  she  had  not  estab- 
lished one.^  No  degrees  were  given,  but  the 

1  Gilchrist,  B.  B.,  The  Life  of  Mary  Lyon,  pp.  207-08. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  ^65.  *  Ibid.,  p.  296. 


8         BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

curriculum  of  the  school  in  1837-38  ^  was  cer- 
tainly as  advanced  as  some  of  the  so-called 
"colleges"  for  girls  in  the  South,  though  there 
is  here  an  entire  absence  of  mention  of  ancient 
or  modern  languages.  How  far  this  is  from 
the  standards  of  Oberlin,  for  example,  which 
began  about  the  same  date,  we  shall  shortly 
see.  It  was  an  immense  advance  in  "female 
education,"  but  it  was  not  college  education. 
Ten  years  later  we  find  a  requirement  in  Latin 
for  entrance,  and  it  is  carried  on  through  two 
of  the  three  years  of  the  course.^  Mathematics 
was  carried  through  Euclid,  and  there  was  the 
usual  elementary  history,  science,  and  rhetoric, 
with  a  fair  amount  of  logic,  philosophy,  and 
evidences  —  and  the  "Paradise  Lost."  French 
is  also  mentioned. 

This  may  be  taken  as  expressive  of  the  high- 
est course  then  feasible  in  our  seminaries  for 
girls.  How  far  this  sober  and  solid  list  of  stud- 
ies is  from  a  well-organized  college  curriculum 
scarcely  needs  indication.  This  was  the  best, 
however,  approximated  or  equaled,  perhaps, 
in   such   institutions   as   Kent   Hill,   Maine; 

*  Gilchrist,  Mary  Lyon,  App.  C.  »  Ihid.,  App.  C. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  9 

Granville,  Ohio;  Norton  and  Ipswich,  Massa- 
chusetts; and  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire.^ 

Turning  now  to  the  colleges  of  the  earlier 
era,  we  are  confronted  at  once  by  the  neces- 
sity of  discriminating  between  the  nominal 
and  actual  college,  between  the  institutions 
that  really  aimed  to  do  college  work  and  those 
which  laid  great  emphasis  on  the  name  of  col- 
lege and  on  the  degree  made  possible  by  a 
charter,  but  had  small  regard  for  standards. 
Our  progress  may  also  perhaps  be  made  clearer 
and  more  interesting  if  from  the  outset  we  sep- 
arate the  Northern  and  Southern  colleges  of 
that  era,  which  were  not  only  often  differen- 
tiated markedly  by  their  aims  and  their  cur- 
ricula, but  present  very  diverse  problems,  as 
at  the  South  the  education  of  young  women 
was  all  but  universally  separated  from  that  of 
young  men,  while  at  the  North,  college  educa- 
tion for  girls,  from  economic  and  social  reasons, 
was  mostly  coeducational. 

When  the  State  of  Alabama  was  organizing 
its  university  in  1820,  it  planned  for  the  edu- 

*  Cf.  Boone,  p.  366;  cf.  also,  admission  requirements  at 
Michigan  in  1841,  Broome,  E.  C,  College  Admission  Require- 
merits,  p.  44. 


10       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

cation  of  women,  and  further  legislation  was 
enacted  in  1822  aiming  to  carry  out  the  earlier 
provision.  But  though  there  seems  to  have 
been  great  interest  in  the  matter,  nothing  was 
accomplished.^  In  1830,  the  State  Assembly 
petitioned  Congress  to  grant  land  in  each 
county  for  the  establishment  of  an  academy 
for  female  education,  but  Congress  took  no 
action  —  and  though  there  were  numbers  of 
seminaries  with  power  to  grant  diplomas  and 
honors,  there  is  no  trace  of  a  collegiate  educa- 
tion at  that  tirne. 

Here  is  the  chief  difficulty  in  our  search: 
"colleges"  abound,  and  even,  in  an  occasional 
instance;  the  term  "university"  is  applied  to 
an  institution  of  seminary  grade.  That  has 
not  yet  ceased  to  be  true,  and  we  find  a  "col- 
lege," in  recent  years,  advertising  that  it  will 
aim  to  bring  up  its  standards  to  those  of  the 
Committee  of  Ten  —  that  is,  to  college  admis- 
sion rank.  The  reader  of  Mrs.  Blandin's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Higher  Education  of  Women  in  the 
South  prior  to  1860  "  is  impressed  by  the  diffi- 

1  Blandin,  Mrs.  J.  M.  E.,  History  of  Higher  Education  of 
Women  in  the  South  prior  to  1860,  pp.  61,  68. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  11 

culty  of  learning  just  what  many  of  these 
ambitious  institutions  taught,  though  many, 
even  private,  schools,  had  the  power  to  bestow 
diplomas  and  degrees.  The  great  interest  in 
many  portions  of  the  South,  of  even  that  early 
day,  in  the  education  of  girls  is  notable,  but 
the  details  seldom  suggest  standards  compar- 
able with  such  colleges  as  Oberlin  and  Hills- 
dale which  admitted  women  at  an  early  date. 
In  Alabama,  for  example,  besides  the  earlier 
interest  suggested  already,  we  find  the  Union 
Female  College  (Eufaula)  granting  degrees 
about  1860,  and  the  Judson  Female  Institute, 
regarded  as  one  of  the  strong  schools  of  the 
State,  from  which  Milo  P.  Jewett,  afterward 
Vassar's  first  president,  came  to  Poughkeepsie 
to  take  charge  of  a  young  ladies'  seminary.  In 
none  of  these  Alabama  institutions,  however, 
do  we  find  traces  of  a  well-defined  college 
curriculum. 

Only  one  earlier  effort  than  the  Alabama 
plan  has  come  under  our  notice.   Blount  Col- 
lege, in  Tennessee,  afterward  merged  in  the 
University,^  which  was  established  in  1794, 
^  Merriam,   L.    S.,  Higher  Education  in   Tennessee,  Bu- 


12       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

and  paid  its  president  fifty  dollars  per  month 
as  a  salary,  was  coeducational  for  a  while,  a 
very  rare  thing  in  the  South  before  the  war.^  I 
have  been  unable  to  discover  a  statement  of  the 
curriculum,  thus  far,  or  any  indication  of  the 
extent  to  which  young  women  availed  them- 
selves of  the  privilege  ofifered  them. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  indications  of 
early  interest  is  found  in  the  establishment  of 
Elizabeth  Academy,  Old  Washington,  Missis- 
sippi, in  1817,  though  it  hardly  sustains  Mrs. 
Blandin's  claim  that  this  was  the  first  State 
to  provide  college  training  for  women.  The 
academy  was  chartered  as  a  college  in  1819, 
and  she  states  it  had  a  college  course  of  study.  ^ 
No  details  of  the  course  are  at  hand  save 
in  the  reports  of  Mrs.  Thayer,  "Governess."^ 
This  woman,  apparently  of  great  force  and 
influence,  was  a  New  Yorker,  but  she  certainly 
did  not  maintain  a  true  college.  The  senior 
class  studied,  in  Latin,  <^sop's  Fables,  Sacra 
Historia,    Viri     Romse,    Caesar;    in    science, 

reau  of  Education,  Circulars  of  Information,  no.  5,  1893, 
p.  63. 

*  Merriam,  p.  C3.       »  Blandin,  p.  43.       *  Ibid.,  pp.  48  seq. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  13 

chemistry  and  natural  philosophy;  read  my- 
thology and  history,  and  were  taught  moral  and 
intellectual  philosophy.  This  is  a  fair  speci- 
men of  the  curricula  of  the  better  schools,  as 
we  find  traces  of  them  from  time  to  time.  The 
completion  of  the  course  entitled  the  graduate 
to  a  diploma  of  parchment  for  the  degree  of 
Domina  Scientiarum.  ^ 

Mrs.  Thayer  appears  again  in  Mississippi 
College,  founded  in  1830.  Mayes  says  that 
two  young  women  received  degrees  in  1832,^ 
and  Mrs.  Blandin  quotes  the  same  statement 
from  a  contemporary  newspaper,^  but  nothing 
is  said  as  to  the  nature  of  the  degree,  and  Mrs. 
Thayer's  presence  is  suggestive  of  a  curricu- 
lum similar  to  that  of  the  school  she  had  just 
left.  The  present  President  writes  that  the 
records  do  not  date  back  of  1836,  but  that  the 
institution  was  coeducational.  It  was  closed 
to  girls  in  1850.  The  stage  of  education  reached 
is  probably  suggested  by  the  gorgeously 
rhetorical  tributes  published  by  men  of  the 

1  Blandin,  p.  48;  cf.  also  Mayes,  History  of  Education  in 
Mississippi,  Bureau  of  Education,  Circulars  of  Information, 
no.  2,  1899,  for  full  account  of  the  school  from  1818  to  1843. 

»  Mayes,  p.  83.  '  Blandin,  p.  187. 


14       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

neighborhood  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
EHzabeth  Academy,  one  of  whom  states  that 
there  is  probably  no  subject  dearer  to  the 
patriot  and  the  Christian  philanthropist  than 
that  of  female  education.*  This  pardonable 
exaggeration  reveals  at  least  a  keen  interest 
in  the  subject  at  a  very  early  date  in  our  his- 
tory. 

Till  we  come  to  the  two  colleges  of  Georgia 
and  Tennessee  which  call  for  more  detailed 
notice,  we  find  nothing  better  than  this  educa- 
tion suggested  in  Mississippi.  Florida  grants 
collegiate  powers  to  the  seminary  at  the  capital 
in  1861,  and  a  high  school  to  prepare  for  this  in 
three  years,  but  it  was  the  opening  year  of  the 
war,  and  progress  was  impossible.'  Louisiana 
displays  great  interest,  but  its  colleges  were  at 
most  equivalent  to  a  high  school.  Kentucky 
presents  numbers  of  colleges,  often  private 
enterprises,  but  no  college  curriculum;  but  in 
its  old  school  at  Science  Hill,  dating  from  1825, 
shows  how  excellent  a  tradition  may  be  main- 
tained without  collegiate  assumptions.  Texas 
shows  admirable  early  efforts:  a  charter  for 
^  1  Blandin,  p.  53.    '  Bureau  of  Education,  Circular,  p.  127. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  15 

Waco  in  1860,  on  the  basis  of  earlier  schools, 
and  Baylor,  dating  from  1845,  made  a  college 
in  1867.  North  Carolina  has  its  Salem 
Academy,  over  a  century  old,  but  incorporated 
with  collegiate  powers  in  1866;  and  Greensboro 
College  for  Women,  chartered  in  1838,  but 
beginning  work  only  in  1847,  graduating  191 
up  to  1863,  of  whose  curriculum  we  find  no 
trace.  South  Carolina  had  a  Johnston  Female 
University,  named  from  its  Chancellor  who 
presided  over  it  from  1850  to  the  war,  de- 
nominational, with  degree-conferring  powers; 
Greenville  College,  from  1854;  Columbia 
College  for  Girls,  1856  to  1863;  but  of  the 
quality  of  their  work  we  find  no  trace.  A  most 
interesting  detail  is  furnished  by  the  history 
of  Dr.  Mark's  School  at  Barhamville,  estab- 
lished about  1815.  It  progressed  steadily  and 
was  incorporated  as  a  college  in  1832.  From 
1850  to  1861  its  annual  outlay  for  teachers, 
who  were  chiefly  drawn  from  the  North,  was 
from  $12,000  to  $14,000,  a  large  sum  at  that 
time.  It  had  a  chaplain  and,  to  guard  against 
sectarianism,  filled  the  office  annually  from 
varying  denominations.  It  was  a  private  school 


16        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

of  high  grade  and  throws  a  clear  light  on  the 
standards  of  higher  education  in  1850.* 

Maryland  had  its  Kee  Mar  College,  founded 
in  1851,  though  its  scheme  of  study  is  suggestive 
of  little  thorough  work.^  Virginia  gives  us  no 
school  of  college  rank.  Missouri  yet  has  col- 
leges which  serve  as  schools  admitting  to  its 
university  —  and  one  can  hardly  hope  that  its 
Christian  College,  chartered  in  1851,  or  the 
Baptist  College  for  Women,  at  Lexington, 
1855,  had  attained  a  substantial  collegiate 
standard. 

Two  of  the  women's  colleges  in  the  South,  in 
this  early  era,  have  gained  prominence  above 
most  by  virtue  of  their  rank  or  by  discussion 
growing  out  of  their  degree-conferring  powers. 
The  more  prominent  of  these  is  the  Georgia 
Female  College,  now  the  Wesleyan  Female 
College  of  Macon,  Georgia. 

The  college  was  chartered  in  1836,  under  the 
former  name,  and  graduated  its  first  class  in 
1840,  and  there  was  no  break  in  its  history 
even  during  the  war.  It  claims  to  be  "the 
oldest  regularly  chartered  institution  for  con- 

»  Blandin,  pp.  260-72.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  179  seq. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  17 

ferring  degrees  upon  women  in  America,  if  not 
in  the  entire  world." ^  If  this  claim  can  be 
substantiated  at  all,  it  must  be  by  placing  em- 
phasis on  the  college  for  women,  the  separate 
college,  as  we  have  already  seen  the  Mississippi 
College  conferring  degrees  several  years  be- 
fore the  Macon  institution  was  founded.  The 
Georgia  College,  however,  has  been  proclaimed 
as  the  oldest  chartered  for  women,  and  we  are 
properly  curious  to  know  all  we  may  of  its 
history.  Unhappily  its  early  records  were 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  it  is  difficult  to  discover, 
with  any  exactness,  the  details  that  most 
interest  us. 

In  1825  a  bill  was  offered  to  the  Legislature 
providing  for  female  education,  but  it  failed  of 
passage.^  The  effort  was  renewed  in  1834,  and 
great  interest  was  awakened  in  the  community, 
and  in  1838  a  president  was  elected  and  the 
college  opened  January  7,  1839.  The  college 
had  professors  of  literature,  mathematics,  the 
natural  sciences,  but  there  is  no  mention  in 
Jones's  account  of  a  chair  of  the  classics:  the 

^  Letter  from  the  President,  October,  1910. 
'  Jones,  C.  E.,  Education  in  Georgia,  Bureau  of  Education, 
Circulars  of  Information,  no.  4,  1888,  pp.  92,  93. 


18       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

rest  of  the  faculty  named  seem  to  be  connected 
with  the  preparatory  department  or  with 
music.  It  is  stated  that  $85,000  were  spent  on 
the  building  which  is  described  and  illustrated 
in  the  work  referred  to.^  The  institution  was 
unhappily  sold  for  debt  very  soon,  and  was 
reincorporated  in  1843  as  the  Wesley  an  Female 
College.  Such  is  the  brief  outline  of  the  exter- 
nal history  of  its  first  years. 

President  Ainsworth  is  authority  for  the 
statement  ^  that  in  the  beginning  there  was  a 
professor  of  modern  languages,  and  one  of 
ancient  languages  —  and  these  are  probably 
to  be  identified  with  the  professors  of  literature 
mentioned  above.  From  an  old  paper.  Dr. 
Ainsworth  gives  a  resume  of  the  studies  pur- 
sued by  the  senior  class,  as  follows:  "Natural 
philosophy,  mental  and  moral  philosophy, 
astronomy,  botany  as  connected  with  chem- 
istry, physiology  and  geology,  history,  ancient 
and  modern  languages." 

We  have  no  details  whatever,  and  the 
description  in  general  is  true  of  the  Elizabeth 
Academy,  already  referred  to,  and  the  glimpse 

*  Jones,  p.  96.      '  Letter  to  the  writer,  October  6,  1910. 


AT  THE   SOUTH  19 

of  a  curriculum  there  offered.  It  would  be 
most  interesting  to  know  what  classics  were 
read,  and  how  much  was  done  in  modern 
languages,  for  example.  The  science  was  prob- 
ably that  then  taught  in  the  general  and  gener- 
ous way  which  characterized  most  of  the  insti- 
tutions of  that  era.  With  every  wish  to  find 
some  indications  here  of  an  advance  beyond 
the  other  institutions  of  that  time,  like  the 
Mississippi  College,  we  are  baffled  by  the  want 
of  records.  One  indication,  however,  furnished 
in  Mrs.  Blandin's  book^  suggests  that  the  first 
graduates  were  not  of  a  rank  that  Oberlin 
would  have  called  collegiate.  She  says  that 
the  first  graduating  class,  in  1840,  was  formed 
of  the  pupils  of  Mr.  Slade,  of  the  Clinton 
Female  Institute,  who  went  with  him  to  the 
new  college  in  1839.  From  what  we  know  of 
these  institutes  we  cannot  safely  infer  that  a 
single  year  on  their  foundation  would  have 
been  equivalent,  at  that  time,  to  the  standards 
of  the  better  colleges  of  the  country.  We  can- 
not accept  the  statement  of  Mr.  Edwards,' 

1  Page  131. 

'  Century  Magazine,  vol.  18,  p.  159,  "The  First  Female 
College." 


20       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

that  its  course  was  equal  to  that  offered  by 
"most  contemporary  colleges  for  men."  We 
shall  see,  when  we  examine  the  curriculum  of 
Oberlin  at  that  time,  and  women  were  admitted 
there,  what  a  definite  and  strong  course  of  study 
had  been  outlined,  and  we  cannot  think  that 
this  early  course  of  "  Georgia  Female,"  which 
permitted  the  graduation,  after  a  single  year, 
of  eleven  young  women  who  had  come  over 
from  a  seminary,  even  approximated  it  in  range 
or  exaction.  All  honor  to  these  early  efforts, 
but  let  us  value  them  justly  in  whatever  light 
we  may  gain  from  their  imperfect  records. 

The  story  of  that  first  commencement  has 
been  written.  In  "Success,"  September,  1903, 
Mrs.  Benson  {nee  Brewer),  then  living,  was 
said  to  be  the  recipient  on  July  18,  1840,  of 
"the  first  diploma  ever  issued  by  a  chartered 
woman's  college,"  "the  first  woman  in  all  the 
wide  world  to  be  graduated  from  the  first 
chartered  college  for  women." 

At  the  semi-centennial  celebration,  Mrs. 
Benson  "bore  in  her  hand  the  very  document 
she  had  received  from  their  predecessors  [the 
Trustees]  and  returned  to  them  the  diploma 


AT  THE  SOUTH  21 

for  preservation  among  the  sacred  relics  of  the 
college."  As  the  claim  to  the  priority  of  a  de- 
gree is  influenced  by  the  form  of  the  diploma, 
it  may  be  reproduced  here. 

Testimonial  of  the  Georgia  Female  College 

The  President,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Faculty  of  the  Georgia  Female  College,  gives  this 
Testimonial  that  Miss  Katharine  E.  Brewer,  hav- 
ing passed  through  a  regular  course  of  study  in 
that  institution  embracing  all  the  sciences  which 
are  usually  taught  in  the  colleges  of  the  United 
States  that  refer  and  appropriately  belong  to 
female  education  in  its  most  ample  range,  was 
deemed  worthy  of  the  first  degree  conferred  by  this 
institution,  and  accordingly  it  was  conferred  upon 
her  on  July  18,  1840. 

In  testimony  of  which  the  signatures  of  the 
President  and  Faculty  and  the  seal  of  the  College 
are  hereto  affixed. 

George  F.  Pearce, 

President. 
W.  H.  Ellison, 

Professor  Mathematics. 
Thomas  B.  Slade, 

Professor  Natural  Science. 

We  mark  here  the  claim  that  a  degree  is 
conferred.  It  has  been  questioned  whether  this 
is  any  more  than  a  diploma.  Mrs.  Benson,  who 


22       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

survived  till  1908,  and  whose  mind  was  per- 
fectly clear,  writes  the  President  (to  Dr.  King, 
President  of  Oberlin),  always  insisted  that  the 
degree  of  A.B.  was  regularly  conferred  upon 
her.  However,  it  is  very  strange  that  the  par- 
ticular degree  is  not  mentioned  in  this  only 
contemporary  account.  It  is  interesting  to 
note,  also,  that  no  professor  of  "literature'* 
signs  the  diploma,  and  that  sciences  alone  are 
referred  to  in  it.  It  suggests  the  earlier 
"diploma  of  parchment"  of  Elizabeth  Acad- 
emy, and  its  degree  Domina  Scientiarum,  and 
raises  again  the  query  as  to  the  particular 
degrees  conferred  by  Mississippi  College  eight 
years  earlier  than  this.  Two  years  before  this, 
in  1838,  Miss  Zeruiah  Porter  completed  a  four 
years'  course  at  Oberlin,  in  the  Young  Ladies' 
Department,  and  received  a  diploma,  and  the 
course  of  study  published  in  the  early  cata- 
logues of  Oberlin  suggests  a  far  more  strenu- 
ous training  than  we  infer  from  our  scattered 
glimpses  of  the  course  at  Georgia.  We  shall  see 
that  it  was  not  till  1841  that  women  graduated 
in  the  full  and  strong  course  at  Oberlin  with 
the  A.B.  degree. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  23 

If  Mrs.  Benson's  memory  was  correct,  the 
A.B.  of  Georgia  was  conferred  earlier;  but  if 
her  diploma  was  regarded  as  the  expression  of 
a  degree,  unspecified,  as  the  language  would 
imply,  then  even  in  a  formal  sense  Georgia's 
degree  was  not  the  first.  And  if,  as  the  lan- 
guage quoted  would  seem  tc  suggest,  the  refer- 
ence is  not  to  a  degree  to  women,  but  to  the 
earliest  institution  chartered  separately  and 
distinctly  for  women,  thus  excluding  Missis- 
sippi and  Oberlin,  it  is  still  of  interest  to 
inquire  whether  degrees  were  not  conferred 
earlier  by  such  colleges  as  Dr.  Mark's  at 
Barhamville,  South  Carolina  (College  in  1832); 
or  Columbia  Institute  (1836)  which  gave  di- 
plomas, and  had  power  to  grant  degrees;  or 
Elizabeth  Academy,  which  promised  with  its 
"diploma  of  parchment"  the  degree  of  D.S. 
The  question  is  solely  of  historic  interest,  and 
it  is  perhaps  not  likely,  with  our  lack  of  rec- 
ords, that  we  can  settle  it  finally. 

The  other  college,  founded  expressly  for 
women,  that  calls  for  particular  notice,  is  the 
Mary  Sharp  College  of  Winchester,  Tennessee, 
known  also  as  the  Tennessee  and  Alabama 


24       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Female  Institute,  and  dating  from  1851. 
Happily  its  early  catalogues  are  preserved, 
and  correspondence  with  its  oldest  graduate 
and  with  a  member  of  its  earliest  faculty, 
enables  us  to  gain  a  definite  view  of  its  curricu- 
lum and  its  equipment.  There  were  twelve 
Trustees  beside  the  President,  Secretary,  and 
Treasurer,  according  to  the  Catalogue  of 
1853-54.  The  faculty  numbered  four.  To  the 
President  alone  the  catalogue  gives  a  degree, 
A.M.,  and  the  Baptist  Cyclopedia  indicates 
that  he  was  not  a  college  graduate.  But 
Zelotes  C.  Graves,  a  Vermonter,  was  a  vital 
force  in  education,  with  ideals  and  ambitions. 
The  professor  of  mathematics,  the  Reverend 
J.  Manton,  was  a  recent  graduate  of  Brown 
University.  He  is  still  living,  at  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota,  and  his  testimony  is  valuable  as 
to  the  quality  of  the  work  of  the  new  college. 
He  had  been  compelled  to  go  South  on  account 
of  his  health,  and  while  at  Nashville  was  asked 
to  accept  this  professorship.  His  letter^  makes 
clear  that  he  had  a  predecessor,  "a  very 
enthusiastic  teacher  of  mathematics,'*  and  he 

*  To  the  writer,  December  5,  1910. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  25 

found  "his  classes  in  good  condition."  He 
served  but  a  year,  when  he  returned  to  preach- 
ing, and  he  records  that  "some  of  my  classes 
did  remarkably  well.  There  were  young  ladies 
whose  attainments  could  compare  very  favor- 
ably with  classes  at  Brown."  There  was  also 
a  professor  of  Latin  and  ancient  history,  the 
President's  wife,  and  a  teacher  of  the  pre- 
paratory department.  There  were  4  seniors, 
6  juniors,  19  sophomores,  30  freshmen,  22  ir- 
regular students,  97  preparatory.  Out  of  178, 
141  were  from  Tennessee.  The  freshmen  be- 
gan algebra  and  Latin  and  geometry  and 
RoUin's  "Ancient  History."  The  sophomores 
completed  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry, 
read  Virgil,  commenced  Greek,  had  history, 
ancient  and  mediaeval,  and  botany.  The  jun- 
iors had  conic  sections,  Cicero,  mathematical 
philosophy,  demonstrative  philosophy,  mod- 
ern history,  Greek  Testament,  astronomy, 
experimental  chemistry.  The  seniors  had 
Horace,  the  Acts  in  Greek,  logic,  mental  and 
moral  philosophy,  rhetoric,  United  States 
history,  elements  of  criticism,  geology,  physi- 
ology. Through  the  course,  elocution,  reading. 


26        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

spelling,  defining,  penmanship  were  required. 
"Valuable  and  expensive  apparatus,  charts,  a 
valuable  geological  cabinet  and  a  very  good 
collection  of  shells"  were  stated  among  the 
facilities  of  the  college  for  its  work.  Here  at 
least  is  a  curriculum,  a  definitely  outlined  plan 
of  study,  and  here  is  a  requirement  of  Greek. 
It  was  a  serious  effort  to  reach  far  beyond  the 
seminaries  of  the  early  fifties,  and  to  approach 
the  standards  of  the  Northern  colleges.  It  is 
interesting  to  read  what  is  claimed  by  this 
earnest  pioneer  from  Vermont. 

He  aims  to  give  girls  "an  education  as 
thorough  as  their  brothers  have  been  acquiring 
at  their  colleges  and  universities."  He  lays 
great  stress  on  "permanency."  "It  is  no  pri- 
vate school."  It  is  "a  school  for  young  ladies 
of  a  higher  grade  than  any  previously  known 
to  exist  —  in  fact,  a  college,  where  ladies  may 
have  the  privilege  of  a  classical  education." 
He  makes  an  impassioned  plea  for  women, 
"for  the  same  knowledge,  literary,  scientific, 
and  classical,  that  has  been  for  so  many  gen- 
erations the  peculiar  and  cherished  heritage 
of  the  other  sex,  for  the  placing  of  the  sister 


AT  THE  SOUTH  27 

on  an  equality  with  the  brother,  for  the  devel- 
oping and  unfolding  of  all  the  qualities  of  her 
mind,  thus  making  her  what  she  was  designed 
to  be  by  her  Creator,  a  thinking,  reflecting, 
reasoning  being,  capable  of  comparing  and 
judging  for  herself  and  dependent  upon  none 
other  for  her  free  unbiased  opinions." 

The  Catalogue  makes  the  further  claim  that 
"when  woman  is  thus  completely  educated  the 
axe  will  be  laid  at  the  root  of  all  evil  and  a  new 
era  will  begin  to  dawn  on  the  human  race"; 
and  the  writer  breaks  out  into  the  well-worn 
verses  of  Pope:  "A  little  learning  is  a  danger- 
ous thing,"  etc. 

The  building  was  seventy-five  feet  long, 
forty  wide,  three  stories  high,  and  with  it 
the  Trustees  felt  impelled  to  claim  that  "this 
Institute  is  prepared  to  offer  advantages  su- 
perior to  any  school  in  the  South  and  West." 
Such  a  boast  would  carry  no  weight  but  for 
its  published  curriculum  —  and  evidently  the 
authors  of  the  Catalogue  of  1853-54  were  not 
thinking  of  the  institutions  to  the  north  of 
them,  at  Oberlin,  or  Hillsdale,  or  Ann  Arbor, 
or  the  young  Antioch  at  Yellow  Springs. 


28       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

The  freshmen  paid  $24,  the  seniors  $36. 
Music,  needlework,  drawing,  and  painting  are 
extras.  A  diploma  costs  $5.  The  boarding 
department  charged  $8  a  month,  including 
all  expenses.  The  students  must  rise  at  five, 
and  never  be  up  later  than  ten.  To  leave  their 
boarding-house  "to  spend  nights  or  leisure 
days,  permission  from  one  of  the  male  members 
of  the  faculty"  is  essential!  "A  short  moral 
lecture"  is  given  every  morning  at  chapel  by 
the  President  "upon  some  text  of  Scripture." 

The  Catalogue  of  1858  shows  a  president 
and  three  professors,  a  woman,  still,  in  Latin, 
with  others  for  preparatory  work,  music,  etc. ; 
altogether  twelve.  There  are  now  120  in  the 
four  college  classes.  The  changes  are  not  very 
marked  in  the  curriculum,  but  the  Greek  has 
advanced,  so  that  the  juniors  read  the  Iliad, 
and  the  seniors  the  Memorabilia.  Livy  alter- 
nates with  Cicero  for  the  juniors.  The  library 
has  500  volumes,  the  charge  for  the  use  of 
which  is  fifty  cents  a  session. 

The  institution  deserves  a  few  more  words  on 
its  history.  It  was  closed  during  the  war,  from 
1861  to  1865;  was  "the  headquarters  of  the 


AT  THE   SOUTH  29 

Federal  soldiers,  and  much  abused,"  says  Mrs. 
Embrey,  the  first  graduate  (Nannie  Merri- 
deth),  to  whose  kindness  the  catalogues  and 
other  material  bearing  on  this  history  are  due. 
After  the  war,  in  1868,  we  find  Z.  C.  Graves 
still  President,  78  in  college  classes,  6  seniors. 
This  catalogue  gives  a  list  of  graduates  from 
1855,  73  to  1863,  inclusive.  The  changes  in  the 
curriculum  are  few,  and  generally  in  the  direc- 
tion of  advance.  The  rule  as  to  permissions 
from  "  male  professors  "  stands,  but  the  "  male  " 
has  become  "gentlemen"!  An  appeal  is  made 
for  a  library  to  replace  that  destroyed  by 
the  war.  Two  thousand  volumes  had  been 
given. 

The  Catalogue  of  1881-82  shows  Z.  C. 
Graves  still  President,  and  now  an  LL.D. 
Alas!  the  Catalogue  prints  this  against  his 
name,  and  two  others,  as  L.  L.  D. !  Unhappily, 
this  late  Catalogue  has  developed  a  boastful 
spirit.  "If  there  is  a  school  for  women.  North 
or  South,  that  can  boast  of  a  corps  of  teachers 
so  renowned  for  culture  and  skill  in  the  science 
of  true  teaching,  we  have  not  been  able  to 
discover  it."    Yet  Vassar  had  been  opened 


30       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

fifteen  years,  and  Smith  and  Wellesley  five! 
There  is  a  less  convincing  air  about  this  late 
Catalogue,  suggestive  of  a  harder  battle  and 
a  losing  fight,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  after 
its  worthy  stand,  Mary  Sharp  ceased  to  be. 
It  was  veritably  a  pioneer,  ten  years  before 
Vassar,  and  although  its  curriculum  in  general 
was  much  less  developed  than  Vassar's,  it 
must  [be  remembered  that  it  was  far  less  fa- 
vorably conditioned.  It  claims  to  be  the  first 
college  for  women  that  required  both  Greek 
and  Latin  for  the  A.B.  degree,  and  if  the 
coeducational  institutions  like  Oberlin  are 
omitted  from  the  category  of  "colleges  for 
women,"  this  may  well  be  so.^  It  was  certainly 
the  most  developed  curriculum  of  which  we  find 
clear  evidence,  ten  years  before  Vassar  opened, 
among  the  colleges  for  women  in  the  South, 
and  at  that  date  there  were  no  separate  insti- 
tutions for  women  in  the  North  that  claimed 
collegiate  rank.  The  South  was  earnest  and 
ambitious,  but  the  history  of  women's  higher 
education  there,  before  the  war,  is  one  of 

*  Cf.  Commissioner  Eaton's  letter,  p.  247;  Merriam,  History 
of  Education,  Bureau  of  Education. 


AT  THE  SOUTH  31 

effort  without  endowment,  of  curricula  scant 
in  comparison  with  those  of  OberHn,  Lombard, 
and  Hillsdale  —  the  faculty  in  many  so-called 
colleges  consisting  chiefly  of  the  principal  and 
his  wife,  the  school  a  private  institution  with 
the  power  of  granting  degrees.  Dr.  Lillian 
Johnson  said  in  1908^  that  there  were  fifty-five 
colleges  in  the  South  before  Vassar,  though  no 
word  regarding  degrees  excepting  from  the 
institution  at  Macon.  The  need  of  qualifying 
this  has  been  pointed  out,  and  the  survey  of 
the  whole  field  must  leave  on  our  minds  the 
conviction  that  there  was  very  little  collegiate 
education  of  women  in  the  South  before  the 
war,  judged  by  the  standards  of  the  better 
colleges  of  that  day.  We  shall  see,  indeed,  as 
we  study  the  curriculum  of  Oberlin  at  an  even 
earlier  date,  that  there  was  nothing  equivalent 
to  it  offered  to  women.  North  or  South,  before 
1850.  At  the  best,  a  mere  handful  of  women 
represented  collegiate  education  in  the  South 
in  1865;  and  there  was  no  general  movement 
there  at  any  earlier  day  that  could  sustain  an 
institution  of  veritable  college  rank  as  judged 

1  Report  of  Conference  of  Education  in  the  South. 


32       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

by  the  standards  of  the  time.  There  is  no 
trace  of  considerable  endowments,  of  large 
libraries,  of  generous  equipment.  There  was 
effort,  occasional  large  vision,  widespread  in- 
terest in  a  general  seminary  education,  but 
seldom  high  standards  and  the  public  opinion 
that  would  sustain  them.  We  honor  the 
pioneers  and  their  high  accomplishment  — 
but  we  honor  them  none  the  less  because  we 
view  their  labors  in  the  white  light  of  the 
actual  educational  conditions  and  opinion  of 
that  era.  If  there  could  be  any  question  in  the 
mind  of  a  reader,  appreciative  of  the  spirit  and 
enthusiasm  of  these  earlier  efforts,  it  must  be 
set  at  rest  by  a  perusal  of  the  list  of  require- 
ments of  our  Northern  colleges  in  1840  to  1850. 
Michigan,  for  example,  opened  in  1841,  with 
six  students  (men),  in  a  new  country,  and  with 
weaker  requirements  than  those  of  Harvard, 
Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia;  but  Michigan 
asked  jor  entrance^  geography,  arithmetic,  ele- 
ments of  algebra,  grammar  of  English,  Latin 
and  Greek  languages,  the  exercises  and  reader 
of  Andrews,  CorneHus  Nepos,  Vita  Washing- 
tonii,  Sallust,  Cicero's  Orations,  Jacob's  Greek 


AT  THE  SOUTH  33 

Reader,  and  the  Evangelists.^  It  would  be  a 
generation  before  any  woman's  college  could 
secure  such  a  preparation  for  its  classes  —  and 
these  were  substantially  increased  at  Michigan 
six  years  later  (1847).  But  this  institution 
was  not  opened  to  women,  —  and  to  learn  the 
best  that  was  anywhere  offered  to  them  we 
must  turn  now  to  the  college  at  Oberlin. 

^  Broome,  College  Admission  Requirements,  p.  44. 


II 

AT    THE   NORTH 

The  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute  was  opened 
in  1833,  with  full  college  privileges,  though  its 
name  was  not  changed  to  Oberlin  College  till 
1850.  It  is  not  for  us  to  recite  its  great  history, 
but  we  must  glance  at  it  so  far  as  it  bears  on 
the  privileges  of  education  given  to  American 
girls.  It  offered  them  its  opportunities  from 
the  beginning.  Its  first  Catalogue  (1834),  not 
printed  in  Oberlin,  speaks  of  it  as  an  "infant 
institution,"  "in  the  wilderness,"  on  a  site 
which  a  year  and  a  half  before  was  uninhabited 
and  surrounded  by  a  forest  three  miles  square. 
Of  its  twelve  trustees  four  were  "colonists." 
There  is  a  professor  of  languages,  of  chemistry, 
botany,  and  physiology,  a  principal  of  a  pre- 
paratory department,  but  as  yet  no  President, 
though  it  is  said  that  this  position  and  the 
professorship  of  natural  philosophy  will  prob- 
ably be  filled  in  the  spring.  The  college  had 
opened  in  December. 


AT  THE  NORTH  35 

The  female  department  was  regarded  as 
separate.^  It  promised  *' instruction  in  the  use- 
ful branches  taught  in  the  best  female  semi- 
naries." The  higher  classes  may  enjoy  the 
privileges  of  the  higher  departments  "as  shall 
best  suit  their  sex  and  prospective  employ- 
ment," but  the  female  seminary  is  not  re- 
garded as  equal  to  the  college.  The  catalogue 
of  students  is  divided  into  "males"  and 
"females."  Both  sexes  are  required  to  labor 
four  hours  daily,  for  reasons  of  health,  moral 
benefit,  and  pecuniary  help.  There  is  a  farm  of 
800  acres,  sawmill,  gristmill,  workshop.  Living 
is  cheap.  "Hitherto  board  with  its  appendages 
has  been  from  80  cents  to  $1  per  week." 
Tuition  is  from  $10  to  $14  a  year.  The  board 
is  now  reduced  to  from  75  cents  to  $1.  Rent 
of  room  and  furniture,  "with  contingencies," 
is  from  $3  to  $6  —  the  annual  expenses  from 
$58  to  $89,  "exclusive  of  clothing  and  slight 
expenses  for  postage,  etc."  Students  earn 
variously  from  1  cent  an  hour  to  12|  cents. '^ 
They  usually  receive  4,  5,  6,  or  7  cents  an  hour, 
by  which  they  may  generally  pay  their  board. 

»  Catalogue  of  1834,  p.  6.         '  Catalogue  of  1834,  p.  9. 


36       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

"  Healthy  and  industrious  females  understand- 
ing domestic  economy  receive  their  board  with 
its  appendages  for  four  hours'  daily  labor." 
There  was  one  rule  for  rich  and  poor,  with 
insistence  on  plain  dress  and  wholesome  diet, 
and  there  was  to  be  no  endurance  of  drones  in 
"this  hive  of  industry."  Sixty-three  males 
and  37  females  made  up  the  100  students,  and 
more  than  90  were  over  14  years  and  most  of 
these  over  18. 

In  the  appendix,  number  2,  to  the  second 
report,^  entitled  "Female  department,"  it  is 
said  that  they  board  at  the  public  table,  do  do- 
mestic work,  washing,  ironing,  and  much  of  the 
sewing  for  the  students,  and  attend  recitations 
with  the  young  gentlemen  in  all  of  the  depart- 
ments. The  applicants  are  so  numerous  that 
they  have  been  obliged  to  send  away  about 
half  of  those  seeking  entrance.  "Most  of  the 
ladies  have  paid  for  their  board  by  their  labor," 
says  the  Catalogue,  "75  cents  for  vegetable 
diet  only,  87j  cents  with  animal  food  once  a 
day." 

The  Catalogue  of  1836  shows  no  women  in 

1  Catalogue  of  1835. 


AT  THE  NORTH  37 

the  collegiate  department,  but  now,  placed 
after  the  preparatory  department  of  the  boys, 
"young  ladies"  appear  in  place  of  the  earlier 
"females."  There  is  one  senior  in  the  female 
department.  The  course  of  study  given  is  good 
in  philosophy  and  literature,  but  without  men- 
tion of  languages  except  for  those  designing 
the  full  course,  and  then  only  Greek,  with  a 
view  to  the  New  Testament.  The  girls  are 
told  that  they  must  not  come  till  they  have 
written  and  been  accepted.  "None  can  be 
received  who  travel  on  the  Sabbath  on  their 
way  to  Oberlin."  Prices  are  now  slightly 
higher  and  the  work  requirement  is  reduced  to 
three  hours. 

In  1837  no  catalogue  was  issued,  but  in  1838 
there  are  391  students  in  all  departments,  and 
Zeruiah  Porter  appears  alone  in  the  fourth 
year  of  the  "ladies'  department."  Evidently 
the  course  is  lengthened.  But  at  the  end  of  the 
list  appears  for  the  first  time  "college  courses," 
"freshman  class,"  with  four  girls  registered  in 
it,  and  three  preparatories  for  college.  Here  is 
a  distinct  epoch  in  the  education  of  girls,  for 
though  the  young  ladies  attend  the  college 


38        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

department  when  their  studies  permit,  the 
course  is  not  nearly  equal  to  the  collegiate,  in 
general.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  we  have  four 
girls  entered  under  a  strong  college  curricu- 
lum. 

Here  is  the  place  to  review  the  actual  status 
of  Oberlin,  in  those  first  years,  toward  woman's 
higher  education.  Mrs.  Sewall  claims  that  the 
college  was  not  fitted  to  give  the  same  advan- 
tages to  women  as  to  men,^  and  dwells  on  the 
emphasis  on  the  seminary  and  the  evident 
purpose  at  first  to  offer  separate  instruction  to 
girls.  Very  probably  there  was  serious  ques- 
tion with  many  then  as  to  coeducation,  and 
there  are  traces  of  this  in  the  first  catalogue, 
perhaps,  but  the  pioneer  and  economic  condi- 
tions forced  what  they  were  quite  ready  to 
accept.  They  were  familiar  with  the  old  New 
England  school,  and  the  simple,  wholesome  life 
they  knew  kept  in  the  background  the  ques- 
tions forced  by  a  more  complex  and  developed 
society;  the  economic  considerations  were 
compelling,  the  attitude  of  the  minds  of  the 
founders  was  an  open  and  receptive  one  — 

^  Woman's  Work,  p.  67. 


AT  THE  NORTH  39 

and  so  gradually  and  inevitably,  after  only  a 
few  years  of  growth,  we  find  girls  admitted  to 
the  full  college  course.  The  ladies'  course  con- 
tinued to  be  far  more  popular,  but  the  princi- 
ple and  the  right  were  established,  and  there 
was  a  continuous  if  small  line  of  girls  who 
availed  themselves  of  the  larger  opportunities.^ 
The  ladies'  course  required  one  year  of  prep- 
aration against  three  for  the  college,  and  it 
carried  no  degree.  As  regards  the  college 
standards  of  Oberlin  at  this  early  date  there 
can  be  no  fair  question.  Asa  Mahan  was 
President  from  1835.  Charles  Finney  then  ap- 
pears as  professor  of  theology.  The  course  in 
that  year,  which  they  regarded  "as  neither 
perfect  nor  immutable,"  included  the  Greek 
Testament,  the  Cyropsedia  and  Memorabilia, 
Cicero  and  Buchanan's  Psalms  in  Latin, 
Hebrew,  abundant  mathematics  and  science, 
political  economy  and  law,  evidences,  the 
analogy,  logic,  rhetoric,  and  some  literature 
and  history.  This  was  gradually  strengthened, 

*  Cf .  also  Knight  and  Commons,  History  of  Higher  Education 
in  Ohio,  Bureau  of  Education,  Circulars  of  Information,  no.  5, 
1891,  p.  64. 


40        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

and  in  the  first  catalogue  published  at  Oberlin 
itself  (1839),  the  second  year  of  the  first  college 
girls,  appears  a  comparison  in  parallel  columns 
of  the  courses  at  Oberlin  and  Yale,  "in  or- 
der that  the  Christian  public  may  be  enabled 
to  judge  us  fairly."  "No  unfriendly  feeling 
toward  that  venerable  seat  of  learning  has  led 
us  to  present  this  comparison,"  but  the  pur- 
pose is  to  meet  those  who  have  "decried"  the 
Oberlin  course. 

The  courses  are  similar  and  the  influence  of 
Yale  is  most  evident.  In  science  and  literature 
the  difference  is  negligible,  and  if  Yale  gives 
more  Latin,  Oberlin  gives  more  Greek  and 
Hebrew.^  The  students  for  the  ministry  are 
more  in  mind  at  Oberlin. 

As  bearing  on  the  amount  of  work  done  it 
may  be  added  that  the  juniors  were  then 
reciting  five  pages  of  Demosthenes  at  a  recita- 
tion. We  cannot  leave  out  of  sight,  in  our  esti- 
mate of  the  work  accomplished  in  conditions 
that  we  should  now  regard  as  raw,  inchoate, 

*  Catalogue  of  1839-40.  See  transcription  of  these  courses, 
etc.,  in  Dr.  King's  letter  to  the  writer,  November  4,  1910. 
Cf .  also  Knight  and  Commons,  p.  69. 


AT  THE  NORTH  41 

and  lacking  in  the  finer  graces  of  life,  the  pro- 
digious earnestness  of  the  men  and  women 
who  were  not  only  making  a  college,  but  who 
were  devoting  themselves  to  the  highest  inter- 
ests of  State  and  Nation,  and  who  were  exalt- 
ing mental  labor  in  a  way  to  shame  the  college 
generation  of  to-day. 

But  the  college  girls  at  Oberlin  were  not 
numerous  in  the  days  preceding  the  epoch 
marked  by  the  opening  of  Vassar.  Seventy- 
nine  received  the  A.B.  degree  up  to  1865,^ 
and  290  had  passed  through  the  ladies*  course. 
This  was  of  far  inferior  grade,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  list  of  studies  in  the  Catalogue  of 
1839,  and  was  designed  to  meet  the  demands 
made  upon  the  "seminaries"  of  that  day. 

Young  ladies  in  college  must  conform  to  the 
general  regulations  of  the  female  department.^ 
In  1842-43,  for  the  first  time  every  class  has 
girls  in  it,  a  total  of  29.  This  catalogue  prints 
a  list  of  graduates  from  the  opening  of  the  col- 
lege, numbering  three  women,  in  1841.  Now 
begins  the  charge  for  tuition,  twenty  dollars  a 
year,  compelled  by  the  losses  of  their  friends  by 

»  Dr.  King's  letter.  "  Catalogue  of  1841. 


42       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

the  great  fire  in  New  York  in  1835.  *'  In  no  year 
have  the  Trustees  been  able  to  pay  the  salaries 
of  the  professors." 

There  is  no  call  for  us  to  follow  through  later 
catalogues  the  fluctuating  numbers  of  college 
girls,  from  1850-51,  when  Charles  Finney 
became  President,  when  there  were  no  junior 
or  sophomore  "ladies"  and  only  1  freshman, 
or  1856-57,  when  there  were  20  ladies  in  col- 
lege and  229  in  the  ladies'  course,  to  1861-62, 
when  33  ladies  were  numbered,  the  largest  in 
any  year  noted  to  this  date,  but  when  the 
ladies'  course  numbered  213.  The  Catalogue 
of  1861-62  lists  46  men  at  the  war  —  and  these 
lists  are  now  printed  regularly  and  under  a 
separate  head. 

It  chances  that  we  have  from  the  very  year 
of  Vassar's  opening,  1865,  the  testimony  of 
an  eyewitness,  an  intelligent  English  teacher, 
regarding  several  American  colleges,  and  hap- 
pily Oberlin  is  one  of  them.^  Her  impressions, 
gained  in  a  ten  days'  sojourn,  give  a  clear  and 
sympathetic  picture.  The  two  sexes,  including 

1  Sophia  Jex  Blake,  Visit  to  Some  American  Schools  and 
Colleges,  London,  1867. 


AT  THE  NORTH  43 

the  preparatories,  were  about  equally  divided, 
and  about  a  third  of  the  total  she  thought 
colored.^  Oberlin  had  disregarded  color  as 
well  as  sex  in  its  welcome  to  its  pupils  since 
1834.  In  that  year,  1865,  Miss  Blake  says  the 
only  woman  graduate  was  originally  a  slave 
who  had  not  yet  fully  paid  her  ransom.  Only 
17  women  were  in  college,^  and  175  in  the 
ladies'  course.  The  grade  of  work  seemed  to 
her  inferior  to  that  of  the  Eastern  colleges, 
though  the  results  were  invaluable  *'to  the 
class  of  students  seeking  instruction"  and 
"very  likely  adequate  to  the  demand  in  the 
West."^  It  must  never  be  forgotten,  however, 
by  the  student  of  education,  that  those  years 
of  the  war,  and  just  after,  were  a  period  of 
strain  and  stress  to  almost  all  American  col- 
leges, and  it  may  easily  be  that  the  earlier 
strenuousness  of  Oberlin  had  abated  perforce. 
The  curriculum  continued  to  be  substantially 
that  just  referred  to. 

1  Sophia  Jex  Blake,  p.  17. 

'  Ibid,  p.  18.  Miss  Blake's  testimony  may  be  accepted  with 
caution,  though  the  word  of  a  skilled,  intelligent  traveler. 
President  King  writes  that  several  women  graduated  that 
year.  See  Quinquennial  Catalogue. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  22,  23. 


44        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Miss  Blake  was  much  impressed  by  the  con- 
ditions of  society,  unHke  anything  known  to 
England.  The  deficiency  of  polish  of  manner 
she  thought  might  be  termed  national,  but 
the  absence  of  social  inequality,  of  all  strain 
after  pretensions  of  a  higher  class,  and  so  the 
temptation  to  essential  vulgarity,  impressed 
her  as  much  as  the  absence  of  standards  and 
of  consciousness  of  social  lack.  Roughness 
of  manners  in  the  attitude  of  students  dur- 
ing class  hours,  and  the  incessant  spitting, 
seemed  to  her  more  marked  at  Oberlin  than 
elsewhere.  The  lagging  behind  the  actual  de- 
gree of  study  and  learning  of  all  the  exterior 
accessories  of  civilization,  struck  her  every- 
where. But  the  girls,  as  a  rule,  "seemed  con- 
siderably more  civilized  than  the  young  men.'* 
"Teachers  and  professors  seemed  to  belong  to 
exactly  the  same  order  as  the  majority  of  the 
pupils,'*  —  though  some  had  traveled  intelli- 
gently. 

The  religious  spirit,  the  desire  for  revivals, 
the  custom  of  opening  every  recitation  with 
hymn  or  prayer,  impressed  her  unpleasantly, 
especially  the  combination  of  "All  hail  the 


AT  THE   NORTH  45 

power  of  Jesus'  name"  with  **the  physical 
functions,"  in  a  class  in  physiology. 

She  comments  on  the  absence  of  provision 
for  physical  exercise,  and  of  a  gymnasium,  but 
we  may  not  forget  the  compulsory  labor. 
There  were  no  sports  —  and  a  seeming  absence 
of  vitality  was  noted  generally. 

As  to  the  great  question  of  coeducation. 
Miss  Blake  ^  remarks  that  there  is  no  common 
life  to  the  girls  and  men  out  of  the  classroom, 
no  walking  together,  even  from  prayer  meet- 
ings, and  in  class  and  at  chapel  they  sit  sepa- 
rately. But  the  testimony  given  her  as  to 
equality  of  ability  and  work  seemed  to  her 
ample. 

A  second  institution  in  Ohio  that  gained 
great  fame  through  the  circumstances  of  its 
founding  and  through  the  connection  with  it  of 
Horace  Mann,  was  at  Yellow  Springs,  Antioch, 
so  called.  Miss  Blake  says,  because  founded  by 
the  Christian  sect.^  It  was,  however,  non- 
sectarian.  Antioch  College  was  opened  Octo- 
ber 5,  1853.  It  was  coeducational,  and  Horace 
Mann  made  a  point  of  having  "female"  as 
1  Blake,  p.  36  seq.  «  Cf.  Acts  xi,  26. 


46        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

well  as  "male"  professors.  The  scenes  of  the 
opening  days  of  this  college,  the  wretched 
physical  conditions  with  which  it  had  to  strug- 
gle, the  heroic  labors  of  Horace  Mann,  the 
astonishing  enthusiasm  excited  for  education, 
are  beyond  our  present  theme,  but  are  well 
known  to  readers  of  the  biography  of  that 
great  pioneer  and  President  who  organized 
and  developed  the  institution.  Mann  died  in 
1859  and  the  second  President  was  Dr.  Hill, 
who  was  called  later  to  preside  over  Harvard. 
The  college  department  was  closed  in  1862 
because  of  pecuniary  difficulties  and  the  draw- 
ing off  of  the  men  to  the  war.  It  was  reopened 
in  1865,  the  preparatory  classes  having  been 
maintained  in  the  interval. 

The  spirit  of  the  work  here  was  beyond 
praise,  and  President  Hill  assured  Miss  Blake 
that  the  undergraduates  of  Antioch  were  gen- 
erally able  to  enter  corresponding  classes  at 
Harvard.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that 
a  "teachers'  course,'*  as  well  as  an  "English 
course,"  was  offered,  and  that  Greek  was 
optional,  for  the  accommodation  of  female 
students.  Physics  could  be  substituted  for  it. 


AT  THE  NORTH  47 

An  article  in  the  "  Nation," *  signed  "S./* 
a  professor  at  Antioch,  expresses  the  opinion 
that  the  women  are  not  equal  to  the  men,  and 
that  the  men  are  not  as  strong  in  ambition 
and  mental  power  as  those  who  seek  the  better 
Eastern  colleges.  He  is,  however,  a  firm  be- 
liever in  coeducation.  One  cannot  examine  the 
tables  furnished  by  "S."  without  remarking 
the  very  small  proportion  of  graduates  to  the 
number  of  students,  which  he  furnishes  from 
1856-57  to  1865-66.  The  totals  of  the  earlier 
catalogues  must  include  all  departments,  prob- 
ably even  the  preparatory.  In  1853-54  he 
gives  253  "gentlemen"  and  98  "ladies,"  and 
in  1857-58  the  ladies  are  158  as  against  252 
gentlemen.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if 
the  panic  occasioned  the  reduction  from  401 
"gentlemen"  in  1856-57.  Certainly  the  num- 
bers fell  after  Mann's  death,  and  the  result  of 
the  war  on  the  college  has  already  been  noted. 
In  1861-62  there  were  121  "gentlemen"  and 
77  "ladies,"  but  the  graduates  were  respec- 
tively 6  and  8.  There  were  no  men  graduated 
from  1862  to  1865,  but  a  woman  is  noted  in 
»  Vol.  11,  p.  24. 


48        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

1862-63  and  1863-64.  The  total  number  of 
women  graduates  in  these  tables  of  "S.,"  from 
1856  to  1865  (when  Vassar  opened),  is  28, 
though  it  is  not  clear  to  me  whether  all  these 
had  completed  the  full  college  course.  Miss 
Blake's  testimony  fails  us  here,  as  her  visit 
was  just  after  the  reopening  of  the  college,  in 
October,  1865.  Ex-President  Derby  ^  gives  the 
totals,  presumably  to  1890,  as  173  men  and 
59  women. 

As  to  the  course  of  study  exacted  of  these 
girls,  we  have  the  testimony  of  President  Hill, 
quoted  by  Miss  Blake,  the  statements  of  "S.,'* 
and  the  full  courses  of  study  printed  by  Miss 
Blake  ^  from  what  she  thinks  was  the  last 
prospectus  issued  during  the  presidency  of 
Dr.  Hill,  1861-62,  just  before  the  college  closed 
on  account  of  the  war.  She  supposes  it  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  pursued  in  1865. 
The  freshman  class  studied  algebra,  geometry, 
surveying  and  navigation,  Livy  and  Horace, 
Anabasis,  Iliad,  Memorabilia;  or,  as  optional 
with  Greek,  history  of  the  fall  of  the  Empire 

*  History  of  Education  in  Ohio,  Bureau  of  Education,  Circu- 
lars of  Information,  no.  5,  1891,  p.  133. 

*  Visit,  etc.,  pp.  139  seq. 


AT  THE   NORTH  49 

and  of  the  Middle  Ages,  lectures  on  botany,  on 
the  conduct  of  the  understanding  (by  the 
President);  a  term  of  French  (begun),  and 
English  language  and  elocution  (in  second 
term).  The  sophomores  had  analytical  geom- 
etry and  the  calculus,  Latin  and  French  (or 
Greek),  logic,  lectures  (by  the  President)  on 
taste,  imagination,  and  art,  and  a  term  of 
German.  The  juniors  had  physics,  chemistry, 
physiology,  astronomy,  mineralogy,  German, 
Latin  (much  prose  composition),  Italian 
(optional  with  German  in  second  term),  and 
lectures  by  the  President  on  practical  ethics. 
The  seniors  had  political  economy,  logic,  com- 
parative physiology,  intellectual  philosophy, 
moral  philosophy,  natural  theology,  evidences, 
constitutional  law,  geology,  Guizot's  "Histoire 
de  la  Civilization  en  Europe."  Rhetorical 
exercises  and  English  composition  were  re- 
quired at  stated  periods  during  the  course. 

Here  is  assuredly  a  worthy  curriculum,  of 
full  collegiate  grade  as  that  was  understood 
from  1850  to  1870,  at  which  later  date  we  mark 
a  new  era  in  American  college  requirements.^ 

*  Cf.  Broome,  College  Admission  Requirements,  p.  47. 


50        BEFORE  VASSAK  OPENED 

The  teachers'  course^  omits  Latin  and 
Greek,  gives  a  year  of  French  and  two  terms  of 
German,  follows  the  freshman  course  in  mathe- 
matics, has  a  term  of  history,  and  two  of 
physics,  one  of  botany,  logic,  rhetoric,  a 
smattering  of  science,  and  the  lectures  noted 
on  practical  ethics,  taste,  etc.  It  required  but 
two  years,  and  was  little  more  than  an  ad- 
vanced seminary  course. 

The  "Enghsh  course"  occupies  three  years, 
but  it  is  a  merely  preparatory  course,  not 
equal  to  that  of  the  better  seminaries  for  wo- 
men. ^ 

College  education  for  women  at  Antioch 
must  be  understood,  then,  as  referring  solely 
to  the  full  collegiate  course.  The  other  courses 
were  not  of  college  grade. 

As  bearing  at  once  on  the  standards  of 
admission  to  the  college  and  on  the  earnestness 
of  the  students,  it  may  be  added  that  the  pre- 
paratory department  gave  a  three  years* 
course,  and  offered  preparation  in  less  time  for 
those  who  could  do  the  work.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  preparation 

1  Blake,  p.  144  seq.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  146-48. 


AT  THE  NORTH  51 

was  for  the  college  of  the  "fifties,"  and  not  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  to-day. 

A  few  words  should  be  added  regarding  the 
other  coeducational  colleges  of  Ohio.  They 
were  numerous,  chiefly  on  denominational 
foundations,  meager  for  the  most  in  equip- 
ment, lacking  endowments,  but  marked  by 
earnestness  within  their  range. 

The  State  College  at  Athens  apparently  did 
not  admit  women  till  after  the  war,^  and 
Miami  was  for  men  only.^  Marietta  also  does 
not  seem  to  have  admitted  women,  though  it 
had  made  sound  progress  and  had  gathered 
a  library  of  17,000  volumes  by  1860.  Western 
Reserve  did  not  admit  women  till  1872. 

Otterbein  had  coeducation  in  1849.  Its 
standards  were  apparently  low.'  Muskingum 
was  incorporated  in  1837,  and  young  women 
were  admitted  to  all  its  privileges  in  1854.  The 
scientific  course,  to  which  they  inclined  for  the 
most  part,  was  a  year  less  than  the  classical. 
The  patronage  and  support  were  wholly  local.* 
Franklin  College,  1825,  has  a  woman  on  the 

*  Ohio  University  Bulletin,  October,  1910,  p.  29. 

*  Knight  and  Commons,  p.  34. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  143.  *  Ibid.,  p.  201. 


52       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

faculty,  in  the  lists  given  in  Knight  and  Com- 
mons's "History,"  but  nothing  is  said  there  of 
coeducation.  Mount  Union,  called  a  "  Cosmic 
College,"  was  chartered  in  1858,  was  coeduca- 
tional and  gave  all  degrees.  Urbana,  College 
of  the  New  Church,  graduated  girls  as  early  as 
1857.  Heidelberg,  1851,  had  a  ladies*  course, 
and  a  few  girls  in  the  classical  course. 

Others  were  coeducational  schools,  which  at 
a  later  date  became  colleges,  as  Hiram,  Bald- 
win, Buchtel,  Wooster,  Wilmington.  Denison 
was  a  college  in  1845,  but  not  coeducational. 

Of  most  of  these  it  may  probably  be  said 
with  justice  that  they  did  a  great  service  in 
exciting  and  meeting  ambition  for  education; 
that  they  were  the  first  sources  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  many  men  and  women  who  later  made 
a  deep  impression  on  their  generation;  but 
that  the  results  were  due  rather  to  the  ear- 
nestness of  teacher  and  taught  than  to  any 
strongly  maintained  college  curriculum  or  any 
substantial  college  equipment.  And  in  the 
light  of  the  clear  statistics  of  Oberlin  and 
Antioch,  we  must  infer  that  the  number  of 
girls  graduated  by  these  colleges  was  very 


AT  THE  NORTH  53 

small.  They  betoken  a  local  interest  in  a  fair 
education,  and  a  liberal  spirit  which  willingly 
shared  its  best  with  the  young  women  who 
sought  it. 

Two  institutions  founded  especially  for  girls 
call  for  a  more  particular  notice.  The  Ohio 
Wesleyan  Female  College  was  founded  in 
Delaware  in  1853  and  absorbed  in  the  Univer- 
sity in  1877.  Its  course  was  apparently  not 
equal  then  to  that  of  the  college.^  We  have  no 
full  statement  of  its  curriculum,  though  the 
numbers  in  attendance  were  good  in  1853-54. 
But  as  it  had  only  reached  a  point  in  1877 
when  its  modified  course  led  to  an  inferior 
degree  at  Delaware  (B.L.),  and  the  require- 
ments for  it  were  considerably  lower  than  those 
for  A.B.  or  B.S.,  it  is  altogether  unlikely  that 
a  college  standard  was  really  maintained  from 
1853  to  1865. 

The  "Wesleyan  Female  College  of  Cincinnati 
was  organized  by  the  Methodist  denomination, 
and  was  incorporated  in  1842-43.  In  1852,  47 
resident  graduates  represented  classes  from 
1847.  The  third  class  organized  an  Alumnse 
^  Knight  and  Commons,  p.  82. 


54       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Association,  and  in  1853  the  word  **  Alumna  " 
was  coined  for  them.  Dr.  Rachel  L.  Body, 
afterward  Dean  of  the  Philadelphia  Woman's 
Medical  College,  was  one  of  the  committee 
which  suggested  the  word.^  The  first  com- 
mencement, 1845,  sent  out  6  graduates,  in  1846 
there  was  1,  in  1860,  33,  the  largest  class. 
The  building  was  sold  for  debt  in  1892. 

The  degrees  given  were  M.E.L.  (Mistress 
of  English  Literature)  and  M.L.A.  (Mistress 
of  Liberal  Arts),  the  latter  including  a  course 
in  Latin,  Greek,  and  advanced  mathematics. 
Later,  but  it  is  uncertain  when,  the  degree  was 
changed  to  A.B. 

But  what  were  the  standards  of  this  college? 
From  Mrs.  Mullikin,  a  graduate,  and  from 
"The  Alumna,"  1890-1900,  such  answer  as 
can  be  made  has  been  obtained.  There  was 
much  interest  in  the  subject,  fostered  by 
Catherine  Beecher's  efforts;  by  the  formation 
and  labors  of  the  College  of  Teachers,  com- 
posed not  only  of  teachers  of  Cincinnati  but 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  whose  committee 

^  Commerical  Tribune,  April  21,  1909;  letter  from  Mrs- 
Katharine  Mullikin. 


AT  THE  NORTH  55 

numbered  in  it  such  names  as  Lyman  Beecher 
and  Calvin  Stowe;  and  by  the  publication  of 
resolutions  in  favor  of  a  more  liberal  female 
education;  but  the  first  definite  steps  were 
taken  by  the  Methodists,  in  this  foundation. 

By  1843-44,  the  college,  "incorporated  by 
the  Legislature,'*  as  the  title-page  of  the  cata- 
logue declares,  "with  collegiate  powers  and 
privileges,'*  offered  to  its  senior  class.  Day's 
Mensuration,  Wayland's  Moral  Science,  Bur- 
ritt's  Geography  of  the  Heavens,  Abercrom- 
bie's  Moral  Feelings,  Hedge's  Logic,  Keith, 
on  the  Globes,  Mrs.  Lincoln's  Botany,  Alexan- 
der's Evidences,  Latin,  closing  with  Cooper's 
Virgil,  and  Greek,  closing  with  Greek  Testa- 
ment; French,  German,  and  Spanish  were  the 
modern  languages  taught.^ 

If  the  Latin  and  Greek  were  required  of  all 
graduates,  this  would  put  the  requirements  for 
graduation  distinctly  above  the  best  seminaries 
of  1845,  as  exemplified  by  Troy  and  Mount 
Holyoke,  but  not  nearly  as  high  as  Mary 

*  Quoted  from  Mrs.  Mullikin's  letter,  October  22,  1910, 
in  which  she  says,  "The  course  of  study  for  the  senior  year 
includes,"  as  above. 


56        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Sharp  in  1853,  and  distinctly  not  equivalent 
to  the  demands  of  Oberlin  and  Antioch,  the  for- 
mer in  1839  and  the  latter -in  1851.  This  must, 
however,  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  definitely 
higher  efforts  of  that  era  to  establish  a  worthy 
collegiate  course.  The  lack  of  endowments,  the 
want  of  earlier  preparation,  and  general  social 
conditions  seem  to  have  made  it  quite  impos- 
sible to  maintain  strong  collegiate  standards 
outside  of  the  better  coeducational  colleges. 

The  decade  from  1850  to  1860  was  very  pro- 
lific in  institutions  for  higher  education,  and 
many  of  them  were  coeducational.  One  of  the 
most  advanced,  if  judged  by  its  published 
curriculum,  was  Lombard  University,  in  Gales- 
burg,  Illinois,  chartered  as  the  Illinois  Lib- 
eral Institute,  in  1851.  Its  second  catalogue, 
1853-54,  shows  a  Board  of  Trustees  of  fifteen, 
a  college  department  including  "gentlemen 
and  ladies,"  14  ladies,  35  gentlemen,  though 
the  summary  states  "males"  and  "females." 
It  contains  a  four  years'  course  and  a  three 
years'  scientific  course.  The  institution  was 
founded  by  Universalists  who  objected  to 
"such  creed-drilling  as  prevailed  in  sectarian 


AT  THE  NORTH  57 

institutions."  It  claimed  "a  respectable 
library"  and  "a  full  and  thorough  collegiate 
course."  But  it  began  Latin  and  Greek  in 
college,  allowed  ladies  to  omit  the  calculus, 
engineering,  analytic  geometry,  and  substitute 
German,  and  permitted  the  substitution  of 
French  for  a  portion  of  Latin  and  Greek.  ^ 
Evidently  here  was  a  "ladies'  course,"  but  this 
was  not  the  end  of  the  matter.  Meanwhile, 
they  meet  supposedly  feminine  needs  in  educa- 
tion, and  offer  embroidery,  needlework,  wax- 
work, music,  painting.  There  are  three  in  the 
college  faculty,  professors  of  mathematics, 
ancient  languages,  and  philosophy.  The  ex- 
penses of  the  college  course  are  $8.25,  and 
French  and  German  $3,  a  quarter. 

In  1854-55  the  curriculum  has  developed. 
There  are  now  26  females  and  48  males  in  the 
college  course,  and  the  Catalogue  claims ^  that 
it  is  more  extensive  than  is  usually  pursued  in 
our  colleges.   Italian  is  offered. 

In  1855-56  the  college  announces  itself  as 
Lombard  University,  after  one  of  its  principal 
benefactors.  It  has  added  a  professor  of  natu- 

*  Catalogue  of  1853-54,  p.  xiii.  "  Page  xx. 


58       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ral  science,  and  announces  two  degrees  con- 
ferred on  females  in  1856  (four  on  males).  The 
published  admission  requirements  include  all 
of  Virgil,  Sallust  or  Csesar,  Cicero's  Selected 
Orations,  five  books  of  the  Anabasis,  three  of 
Homer,  arithmetic,  elementary  algebra,  Eng- 
lish grammar,  ancient  and  modern  geography, 
ancient  and  modern  history  —  almost  the  same 
as  the  Harvard  requirements  of  1870,  fourteen 
years  later.  ^  The  course  outlined  "^  would  be  a 
stiff  one  to-day,  and  its  manifest  impossibility 
for  the  conditions  of  that  day,  even  though  the 
claim  is  made  that  the  inhabitants  are  chiefly 
from  New  England  and  New  York,^  is  seen  in 
the  decline  in  later  catalogues.  At  the  same 
time  the  institution  is  offering  "wax  flowers 
and  fruit"  at  an  extra  cost  of  $8,  and  "  Grecian 
painting"  at  $5,  oil  painting  at  $15,  music  at 
$10,  leather  work  at  $5.  The  President  had 
raised  a  fund  of  $75,000. 

In  1857-58  appears  a  new  President,  Otis  A. 
Skinner.  Only  18  students  are  in  college,  4  of 
whom,  all  freshmen,  are  girls.  In  the  scientific 

1  See  Broome,  p.  48.      *  Catalogue,  1854-55,  pp.  20-24. 
3  Catalogue  of  1857-58. 


AT  THE  NORTH  59 

department  are  52  students,  and  in  the  pre- 
paratory, 274.  There  is  a  great  decline  in  the 
standards  for  admission,  the  Eclogues  and  two 
books  of  the  iEneid,  for  example,  two  books  of 
Caesar,  the  Greek  reader!  Compared  with  the 
statement  just  made,  from  1855-56,  what  has 
happened?  Was  the  absurdity  of  the  former 
at  once  seen?  Or  has  the  institution  passed 
through  a  crisis  ?  A  new  charter  is  now  adopted, 
and  a  new  "plank  walk  extends  to  the  post- 
oflSce  and  the  different  churches."  Now,  for 
the  first  time,  there  is  distinct  reference  to 
coeducation  as  an  issue,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
its  success  justifies  it.^  There  is  no  rule  bearing 
especially  on  the  presence  of  girls. 

The  Catalogue  of  1859  shows  six  professors. 
Six  books  of  Virgil  are  now  required  and  the 
Anabasis  (though  no  amount  is  specified). 

In  the  Catalogue  of  1860  the  names  of  the 
women,  six  of  whom  are  in  college,  are  placed 
under  the  lists  of  men  in  the  appropriate 
classes.  The  requirements  are  changed,  and 
somewhat  advanced,  especially  in  Greek. 

In  1861  we  have  a  new  body  of  rules,  the 

»  Catalogue  of  1857-58,  p.  24. 


60       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

first  reference  to  any  real  problem  in  coeduca- 
tion. "Those  of  different  sexes  may  not  visit 
each  other  at  their  rooms  at  any  time,"  nor 
**  attend  the  meetings  of  a  society  composed  of 
students  of  the  opposite  sex,"  nor  "take  walks 
and  rides  together  without  permission,"  nor 
"enter  the  marriage  relation  while  connected 
with  the  institution." 

In  1862  there  are  three  women  in  college, 
but  four  are  in  the  scientific  course.  Now 
appears  a  "ladies'  course,"  with  four  names. 
It  extends  through  three  years,  gives  Cicero 
and  Virgil  to  its  freshmen,  Cicero  and  Horace 
to  the  sophomores,  and  French  to  the  seniors. 

In  1863,  of  eight  in  the  college  course  three 
are  women,  but  there  are  seven  women  in  the 
ladies'  course  and  ten  out  of  the  twenty-six 
students  in  the  scientific.  Not  till  1864  is  a 
degree  invented  for  the  ladies'  course.  Laure- 
ate of  Arts  (L.A.).  In  this  year,  the  one  pre- 
ceding the  opening  of  Vassar,  there  is  printed  a 
list  of  the  graduates  from  1856  on.  There  are 
eleven  alumnae,  including  the  class  of  1863, 
but  of  these  five  have  B.S.  and  two  L.A.,  show- 
ing a  very  small  demand  for  real  college  edu- 


AT  THE   NORTH  61 

cation  among  the  girls  of  that  section.  In  1864 
there  were  granted  two  A.B/s  and  one  L.A.; 
in  1865,  one  B.S.;  in  1866,  one  A.B.;  and  in 
1867,  the  year  of  Vassar's  first  graduating 
class,  one  L.A. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  as  indicative  of  the 
problems  with  which  the  small  colleges  had  to 
deal  at  that  time,  that  of  the  class  of  1862, 
seven  out  of  the  nine  men  are  in  the  army. 

We  need  not  follow  this  history  further,  but 
there  is  no  increase  of  interest  as  late  as  1869, 
when  the  Catalogue  shows  five  girls  in  the 
classical  course,  and  when  the  new  *' literary 
course,"  in  which  no  men  are  found,  absorbs 
most  of  the  girls.  Here  was  a  full  opportunity 
of  college  education  open  to  them,  but  as  yet 
there  was  no  general  interest  awakened  toward 
it.  A  strong  curriculum  was  published,  worthy 
of  our  best  colleges,  but  the  number  trained 
under  it  was  very  small.  ^ 

^  It  has  been  claimed  that  Knox  College,  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
introduced  education  for  girls  as  early  as  Lombard.  The 
Story  of  Knox  College  (1912)  shows  that  an  education  was 
offered  to  girls  in  a  special  department,  and  under  special 
teachers,  in  1849-50  (p.  66).  In  1850  a  three  years'  course 
was  organized  as  a  "Female  Collegiate  Department."  In  1851 
three  young  women  were  graduated  from   this  department. 


62        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

The  Milwaukee  College  was  chartered  in 
1853.  There  are  no  records  of  the  Trustees, 
and  no  catalogues  existing  from  1859  to  1867.^ 
The  few  suggestions  of  a  curriculum  and  the 
list  of  the  faculty  indicate  a  female  seminary 
of  the  usual  type.  Two  were  graduated  in  1853, 
but  there  is  no  word  of  a  degree,  though  the 
diploma  (a  copy  of  which  is  given  2)  was  de- 
clared by  the  President  "fully  equivalent  to 
the  baccalaureate  or  first  degree  in  arts  as 
conferred  by  other  literary  institutions."  The 
college  was  poor  in  resourcesand  was  apparently 
no  more  than  a  school.'    Even  in  1874  and 

The  course  was  "somewhat  diluted,"  is  the  statement  of  a 
member  of  the  Knox  Faculty  (p.  72).  In  1858  this  Female 
Department  had  60  students  (in  the  college  proper  there  were 
109  men).  In  187 ^  (p.  82),  "the  college  took  a  new  departure, 
perhaps  as  a  measure  of  policy,  perhaps  to  satisfy  a  demand." 
The  "course  was  thrown  open  to  women"  with  the  privilege  of 
the  A.B.  degree.  Even  yet,  though,  they  met  in  the  seminary, 
apart,  excepting  in  the  more  advanced  studies  and  in  the 
lectures  of  the  senior  year.  They  were  allowed  six  years, 
instead  of  four,  to  complete  the  course,  in  order  "to  avoid 
injury  to  health,  and  to  give  time  to  the  cultivation  of  fine 
arts  and  other  accomplishments  which  are  not  pursued  by 
young  men."  Not  till  1891  was  a  distinctive  course  for 
women  abandoned,  and  not  till  1901  was  the  substitute  for  it, 
a  B.L.  course,  in  its  turn  given  up. 

^  Annals  of  Milwaukee  College,  18^-91,  p.  17. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  16.  '  Ibid.,  p.  11. 


AT  THE  NORTH  63 

1875,  when  Professor  Farrar,  of  Vassar,  had 
become  President,  the  curriculum  was  not  of 
college  grade. 

Butler  College,  Indianapolis,  was  founded 
in  1855  and  opened  to  women.  It  had  a 
"female  collegiate  course"  which  continued 
till  1864.^  A  transcript  of  this  is  furnished  in 
a  letter  by  President  Howe  (October  8, 1910), 
showing  that  it  was  but  a  three  years'  course, 
that  it  offered  preparatory  Latin  and  mathe- 
matics in  its  first  year,  two  years  of  "  German 
or  French,"  and  a  sprinkling  of  science,  phil- 
osophy, history,  economics,  etc.  Mrs.  Sewall 
says  that  girls  could  substitute  music  for  math- 
ematics and  French  for  Greek,  but  this  may 
refer  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  President's 
letter.  He  says  that  the  Catalogue  of  1870-71 
states  that  the  "Board  have  determined  to 
make  no  distinction  between  male  and  female 
students,  with  respect  to  branches  of  study, 
but  invite  them  to  pursue  these  branches  upon 
an  'equal'  footing,  and  side  by  side  make  proof 
of  the  'rights'  to  the  highest  academic  honors." 
This,  however,  was  much  later  than  the  date 
1  Mrs.  Sewall,  in  Woman's  Work,  p.  73. 


64        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

limiting  the  present  investigation,  and  at  that 
time,  1870-71,  Butler's  freshman  class  was 
doing  mostly  preparatory  work.  This  must  be 
remembered  as  we  record  four  women  gradu- 
ates of  Butler  up  to  and  including  1865.  Miss 
Butler  had  entered  the  "male  course"  in  1858 
and  graduated  in  1862,  but  the  curriculum  of 
1870  suggests  that  that  of  1860  was  not  up  to 
the  grade  of  our  better  colleges.  ^ 

*  The  Oxford  College  for  Women,  Oxford,  Ohioj  claims  a 
foundation  in  1830,  but  as  an  academy  (Oxford  Female 
Institute).  A  plant  valued  at  $100,000  was  dedicated  in  1855- 
66,  but  neither  the  faculty  nor  curriculum  justifies  the  claim 
that  it  was  properly  a  college  then.  Its  Superior  Department, 
for  which  the  junior,  middle,  and  senior  years  seem  prepara- 
tory, includes  Virgil,  Greek  grammar  and  reader,  the  more 
advanced  mathematics  characteristic  of  these  schools,  and 
there  is  the  usual  philosophy  of  the  time.  There  is  a  rearrange- 
ment of  classes,  but  no  substantial  advance  of  curriculum  the 
next  year.  "A  knowledge  of  the  elements  of  two  languages, 
at  least,  beside  the  English"  is  required  for  the  "diploma." 
No  degrees  were  given,  apparently,  before  1886.  (Letters  and 
other  material  from  President  Jane  Sherzer,  Ph.D.)  Knight 
and  Commons's  History  of  Education  in  Ohio  does  not  mention 
Oxford. 

Since  the  above  was  in  print  the  catalogues  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Female  College  of  Perkiomen  Bridge  (now  College- 
ville)  have  been  seen,  through  the  courtesy  of  the  librarian  of 
Ursinus  College.  It  was  chartered  in  1853  on  the  basis  of  a 
privately  owned  seminary,  "with  full  university  privileges." 
Its  president  was  a  graduate  of  Wesleyan.  The  other  two 
members  of  the  small  staff  who  had  degrees  received  them  from 


AT  THE   NORTH  65 

Lawrence  College,  Appleton,  Wisconsin, 
opened  for  men  and  women  in  1849,  but  as 
preparatory,  organized  its  freshman  class  in 
1853,  and  graduated  four  men  and  three 
women  in  1857.  Two  of  the  latter  received  the 
A.B.  degree.  The  same  course  was  planned 
for  men  and  women,  and  as  everywhere  else 
the  scientific  course  was  of  lower  grade  than 
the  classical.  President  Plantz,  to  whom  we 
are  indebted  for  this  information,^  has  fur- 
nished a  transcript  of  the  course  of  study  pub- 
lished at  that  time.  He  gives  the  testimony  of 
one  of  these  first  graduates  that  most  of  the 
girls  took  the  classical  course  with  the  men, 
and  that  the  special  course  for  women,  which 
received  the  same  degree  as  the  scientific 
course,  was  not  popular.  Yet  that  course  was 

this  college  in  1853,  and  occupied  chairs  in  1854.  Latin  was 
begun  in  the  college;  the  course  was  three  years,  and  gradua- 
tion was  permitted  at  seventeen.  A  fourth  year  (sophomore) 
was  inserted  in  1856-57.  There  are  no  academic  entrance 
requirements  published,  but  for  graduation  a  pupil  must  have 
"completed  the  course,"  "or  an  equivalent,"  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  "Greek  and  the  languages  and  mathematics  of  the 
senior  class"!  The  printed  course  is  fair,  but  makes  absurd 
the  claim  of  the  Catalogue  of  1854  that  it  is  as  "full  and 
thorough  as  in  any  of  our  American  colleges  for  the  other  sex." 
1  Letter  of  November  9,  1910. 


66        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

creditable,  though  much  of  it  we  should  classify 
as  preparatory;  and  besides  the  usual  science 
and  philosophy,  gave  opportunity,  if  desired, 
to  begin  Greek  and  to  carry  on  Latin  to  Horace 
and  the  De  OflBciis,  and  to  begin  German. 
French  was  required. 

The  classical  course  was  a  good  one,  with 
the  requirements  of  the  better  colleges  in 
mathematics,  Latin,  Greek;  and  the  curricu- 
lum had  the  rare  feature  of  certain  electives 
after  the  second  term  of  the  junior  year. 

Hillsdale  College,  incorporated  as  the  Michi- 
gan Central  College  in  1850,  and  moved  to 
Hillsdale  in  1853,  was  apparently  rechartered 
in  1855.^  A  degree  of  B.S.  seems  to  have  been 
bestowed  on  a  woman  in  1851,  and  an  A.B.  in 
1852.  It  struggled  with  great  financial  diffi- 
culties and  with  many  other  obstacles,  but  the 
spirit  of  its  founders  was  like  that  at  Oberlin. 
Its  first  full-term  class  graduated  in  1860,  on 
the  basis  of  a  good  course  of  study.  What 
these  earlier  degrees  may  connote  it  is  not  easy 
to  discover,   but  they  were  manifestly  not 

*  History  of  Higher  Education  in  Michigan,  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, Circulars  of  Information,  no.  4,  1891,  p.  124. 


AT  THE  NORTH  67 

granted  for  a  full  four  years'  course.  Happily 
for  the  later  period  we  have  the  record  of  the 
visit  of  Sophia  Jex  Blake  in  1865.*  Life  was 
simple  and  conditions  exceedingly  crude,  but 
to  Miss  Blake  the  manners  seemed  rather 
better  than  at  Oberlin,  and  the  classroom  work 
at  least  as  good.  The  same  general  rules  of  life 
prevailed.  The  professor  of  mathematics  gave 
enthusiastic  testimony  as  to  the  excellence  of 
the  work  of  the  girls,  and  claimed  for  the 
college  standards  of  about  equal  grade  with 
the  stronger  Eastern  institutions.  Against  his 
view  is  the  general  crudeness  of  conditions  and 
lack  of  modern  facilities,  but  in  favor  of  it  is  the 
intense  earnestness  of  spirit  which  character- 
ized the  teachers  and  the  students,  and  the 
generally  good  standards  witnessed  to  by  that 
spirit  and  a  good  curriculum.  It  is  a  strong 
course  which  is  set  before  us  in  1865, ^  worthy 
of  any  college  then.  The  preparatory  course  is 
but  two  years,  but  the  student  carried  only 
three  subjects,  it  may  be  remembered,  and 
study  was  the  rule  of  life.  The  English  and 
scientific  courses  have  the  usual  weakness  of 

*  Visit,  etc.,  pp.  65  seq.  '  Blake,  pp.  94  seq. 


68       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

that  period,  and  the  ladies'  course,  four  years, 
was  quite  equal  to  them. 

Cornell  College,  Mount  Vernon,  Iowa, 
founded  as  an  academy,  was  chartered  a  col- 
lege in  1857.  The  catalogues  show  a  good 
course  of  study,  open  alike  to  "ladies "and 
"gentlemen,"  the  minimum  age  for  entrance 
being  fourteen.  The  conditions  of  admission 
included  Csesar,  Ovid,  a  book  of  the  Anabasis, 
and  in  the  freshman  year  they  studied  Virgil, 
Sallust,  the  Cyropsedia,  geometry.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  whole  story.  The  B.S.  degree 
was  given  for  the  same  course,  without  the 
languages,  and  in  three  years;  and  the  degree 
of  M.E.L.  was  also  given  to  girls,  which  prob- 
ably betokens  still  lesser  requirements.  But 
an  earnest  effort  was  made  to  maintain  a  col- 
lege, though  it  was  vastly  overweighted  by 
the  academy.  In  1858,  for  example,  when  one 
woman  graduated  (M.E.L.)  there  were  27 
students  in  college,  7  of  whom  were  girls;  but 
there  were  218  preparatories  and  55  primaries. 
The  next  year  (1858-59)  3  girls  graduated 
(M.E.L.),  27  were  in  college,  and  294  in  the 
academy.    In  1859-60,  2  girls  received  B.S.; 


AT  THE   NORTH  69 

and  in  1860-61,  2  girls  took  the  A.B.  degree, 
who  were  ranked  as  sophomores  in  the  preced- 
ing catalogue.  The  entire  graduating  class 
was  4,  —  the  preparatories,  290,  and  pri- 
maries, 87.  One  girl  graduated  in  1862  (B.S.), 
none  in  1863.  The  freshman  class  dwindled 
from  40  to  19  in  the  second  year.  Was  this  the 
influence  of  the  war,  —  or  the  lack  of  demand 
for  a  college  education.'*  In  1864-65,  4  girls 
graduated  (2  A.B.;  1  M.E.L.,  1  B.S.),  and  the 
preparatories  are  divided  into  classical,  66, 
and  scientific,  245.  Board,  at  from  $2.50  to 
$3.50  per  week,  is  regarded  as  very  high,  and 
the  hope  of  lower  rates  is  expressed.  The 
library  now  numbers  about  600  volumes.  In 
1866,  3  girls  graduated,  2  A.B.,  1  B.S.  There 
are  459  in  the  classes  of  the  Academy.  In  1867, 
7  girls  graduated  (3  A.B.,  4  B.S.).  The  Hbra- 
ries  of  the  college  and  societies  now  number 
2500  volumes.  There  are  77  in  the  classical 
preparatory  class>  and  266  in  the  ^'scientific.''* 
This,  in  those  days,  was  always  a  name  for  a 
lower  grade  of  requirement.  In  ten  years, 
then,  25  girls  had  graduated,  9  with  A.B.,  the 
others  with  the  weaker  degrees  of  B.S.  and 


70        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

M.E.L.  There  was  evidently  no  loud  cry  for 
the  higher  education  of  women.  ^ 

Earlham  College  had  been  a  Friends* 
Boarding-School  since  1847,  and  was  opened  as 
a  college  in  1859,^  and  the  policy  of  coeduca- 
tion was  maintained  from  the  beginning.  The 
first  graduating  class  of  the  college  consisted 
of  one  man  and  one  woman,  in  1862,  and  no 
woman  is  mentioned  again  till  1865,  when  five 
of  the  ten  graduates  were  women,  three  of 
them  with  A.B.  In  1866,  there  were  no  women, 
and  in  1867  one,  with  B.S.' 

The  Catalogue  of  1864-65  gives  a  picture  of 
one  large  building,  apparently  the  old  semin- 
ary. The  charges  were  $190  for  everything  for 
forty  weeks.  If  the  student  was  not  a  Friend, 
the  tuition  was  fifteen  dollars  more,  special 
funds  having  been  given  for  the  Friends. 
There  were  four  professors  for  mathematics, 
classics  and  their  literature,  natural  science, 
government  and  English  literature.  The  scien- 
tific course  is  marked  by  the  usual  weakness 

1  Catalogues  from  1857-58  to  1866-67,  compared  with  the 
Quinquennial  of  1908. 

^  Letter  from  Professor  Lindley,  November  1,  1910. 
^  Alumni  Triennial  Catalogue,  June,  1910. 


AT  THE  NORTH  71 

as  compared  with  the  classical.  In  the  latter 
the  freshmen  read  Virgil  and  Cicero,  and 
Greek  is  begun  in  the  junior  year,  and  cer- 
tain studies  are  made  elective  for  female 
students.^  The  course  is  said  to  be  "adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  West."  The  library  has 
2000  volumes,  including  those  of  the  literary 
societies.  No  **  gaudy  clothing  "  or  any  jewelry, 
excepting  watches,  will  be  allowed,  and  as  "the 
quantity  of  rich  food  sent  to  some  students 
by  their  parents  and  friends"  has  "produced 
much  inconvenience,  particularly  in  a  sanitary 
view,  the  practice  will  be  objected  to  with 
the  exception  of  ripe  fruit,  and  the  packages 
returned." 

There  are  several  institutions  which  require 
mention,  for  which  the  claim  is  sometimes  made 
that  they  also  offered  education  to  women  in 
this  earlier  period,  but  made  mistakenly. 

The  University  of  Utah,  or  Deseret,  for 
example,  was  incorporated  in  1850  by  the 
provisional  government  of  the  Territory, 
whose  action  was  ratified  by  the  Legislature  in 
1851,  and  its  opportunities  were  designed  for 

»  Catalogue  of  1864-65. 


72        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

both  sexes.  "Owing  to  the  immature  condi- 
tion of  its  finances  as  well  as  to  the  limited 
patronage  it  received,  instruction  was  discon- 
tinued in  1851  (it  was  opened  in  November!) 
and  not  resumed  till  November,  1867."  ^ 

Baker  University,  Baldwin,  Kansas,  was 
opened  in  1858,  but  did  not  graduate  a  class 
till  1866.  Women  were  admitted  on  the  same 
terms  as  men,  and  of  the  three  graduates  of 
this  first  class,  one  was  a  woman.  ^  The  course 
of  study  taken  by  this  class  includes  Livy, 
Horace,  and  Cicero,  the  Iliad,  Memorabilia, 
and  Odyssey,  geometry  and  higher  algebra, 
in  the  freshman  curriculum.  The  course  is  a 
good  one  throughout,  and  for  that  period  of 
American  education,  makes  particularly  good 
provision  for  history.'* 

Swarthmore  College  is  noted  on  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Anniversary  Programme  of  Bryn  Mawr 
College  among  the  colleges  open  to  women 
before  Vassar,  and  the  date  is  given  as  1864. 
This  college,  however,  though  incorporated  in 

*  Catalogue  of  1910-11,  Historical  Sketch. 

*  Letter  from  the  President,  November  10,  1910. 

*  Copy  furnished  by  President. 


AT  THE  NORTH  73 

1864  (Vassar  was  chartered  in  1861),  was  not 
opened  till  1869,  and  its  first  class  was  gradu- 
ated in  1873.  Women  were  admitted  from  the 
first.  1 

It  is  assumed  very  often  that  several  of  the 
Western  State  Universities  were  pioneers  in 
this  movement  for  college  education  for  women, 
but  the  facts  do  not  warrant  such  a  conclu- 
sion. Naturally  that  would  have  been  the 
proper  result  of  the  Ordinances  of  1785  and 
1787,  setting  aside  land  for  schools  in  every 
township  and  for  a  State  University  in  the 
Territories  or  States  carved  out  of  the  North- 
west Territory.  The  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions, also,  which  had  forced  coeducation 
in  the  early  colleges  in  Ohio,  Illinois,  and 
Michigan,  already  passed  under  review,  would 
seem  to  have  especially  demanded  this  in 
State  Colleges.  But  whatever  the  theory,  the 
facts  were  otherwise.  Michigan,  for  example, 
whose  lead  in  this  respect  has  been  so  signal, 
only  opened  its  doors  to  women  fully  in  1870. 
At  Wisconsin,  writes  the  statistician  of  the 
university,  "women  had  very  little  consider- 

1  Letter  of  Vice-President  Hoadley,  November  1,  1910. 


74       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ation  prior  to  its  reorganization  in  1866."^ 
A  Normal  Department  was  maintained  jot 
women  only  from  1863,  but  before  that  had 
both  men  and  women.  Not  till  1869  did  a 
woman  receive  the  Ph.B.  degree,  and  not  till 
1870  the  degree  of  A.B.^  At  the  time  of  the 
reorganization,  in  1866,  the  university  was 
"recognized'*  as  open  to  all,  but  by  legislation 
this  was  limited  the  next  year,  and  women  were 
confined  to  the  Normal  Department,  which 
was  of  much  inferior  grade.  ^ 

Iowa  State  University  seems  to  have  ad- 
mitted women  to  full  privileges  in  I860,*  but 
there  is  small  trace  of  college  training  for  them 
at  that  time.  From  1858  to  1865,  forty-two 
women  received  certificates  in   the  Normal 

1  Letter,  December  13,  1910.  ^  Letter,  supra. 

'  Cf.  Sewall,  in  Woman's  Work,  p.  75.  She  declares  women 
were  not  on  the  same  footing  with  men  till  1875.  See  Presi- 
dent Bascom's  testimony,  that  then  —  1875  —  he  first  got 
the  commencements  together.  Mrs.  Olin  says,  however,  that 
the  same  rights  in  classes  were  enjoyed  by  women,  and  she 
entered  in  1872,  and  was  "unconscious  of  any  difference 
whatever."  That  a  woman  received  the  degree  in  1870  was 
proof  that  she  had  had  full  privileges  for  four  years.  (Mrs. 
Olin's  letter  of  November  23,  1912.)  The  Regents  seem  to 
have  continued  to  discuss  the  question,  as  if  unsettled.  (Olin, 
Women  of  a  State  University,  p.  54.) 

*  See  table  in  Mrs.  Sewall's  essay.  Woman's  Work,  p.  57. 


AT  THE  NORTH  75 

Department.  One  woman  graduated  in  1863 
in  the  college  course  and  3  in  1864.  The 
conditions  of  admission  in  1860  were  arith- 
metic, algebra  through  equations  of  the  first 
degree,  plane  geometry,  trigonometry,  English 
grammar,  geography,  four  books  of  Caesar, 
four  orations  of  Cicero,  six  books  of  Virgil, 
Greek  reader  and  two  books  of  the  Anabasis, 
a  most  creditable  requirement  at  any  date.^ 
The  preparatory  department  accomplished 
this  in  two  years. '^  In  1864-65,  when  there 
were  164  "gentlemen"  and  275  "ladies," 
Ph.D.  was  given  after  one  year  of  study  to 
those  who  had  won  the  B.P.  degree  in  college, 
evidently  an  equivalent  for  the  A.M.  which 
was  given  in  a  year  to  an  A.B.  We  find  now 
that  French  and  German  may  be  substituted 
for  Greek.  In  1866,  after  the  war,  we  find  362 
gentlemen,  306  ladies,  1  A.B.  (man),  and  8 
normals  (women).  In  1866-67  there  were  12 
ladies  in  college  classes,  10  of  them  freshmen 
(of  a  class  of  48).  One  lady  took  the  A.B. 
degree. 

»  Letter  of  Executive  Clerk,  October  13,  1910. 
»  See  Catalogue  of  1863-64. 


76       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

A  peculiarity  of  the  university  was  the  giv- 
ing of  Latin  through  two  years  and  Greek 
through  the  other  two,  and  this  is  claimed  as 
an  invention  of  the  university.  But  modern 
languages  may  be  substituted  for  Greek. 

In  1867-68  there  are  20  women  in  college, 
15  of  them  freshmen,  and  the  graduates  are 
1  man  with  A.B.,  1  woman  with  B.S.  Yet  it  is 
said  in  the  catalogue  that  "its  progress  has 
exceeded  the  anticipation  of  its  most  anxious 
friends."  Evidently,  though  Iowa  offered  its 
advantages  to  women  in  1860,  the  college 
education  of  girls  in  that  State  had  in  no  degree 
become  a  "movement"  when  Vassar  gradu- 
ated its  first  class. 

It  remains  to  recount  the  history  of  the  one 
college  opened  at  this  time,  distinctly  for  the 
education  of  girls,  in  an  Eastern  State.  Elmira 
College  was  chartered  in  1855  (April  13),  on 
condition,  "first,  that  no  degree  shall  be  con- 
ferred without  a  course  of  study  equivalent  to 
a  full  ordinary  course  of  college  study  as  pur- 
sued in  the  colleges  of  this  state  shall  have 
been  completed;  second,  that  said  college  shall 
be  subject  to  the  visitation  of  the  Regents  of 


AT  THE  NORTH  77 

the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  in 
the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as 
the  other  colleges  of  the  State."  Dr.  Cowles 
was  called  to  the  presidency  in  1855,  and  he 
states  that  a  committee  of  five,  representing  as 
many  college  faculties,  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare such  a  course  of  study  as  would  be  most 
suitable  for  young  women,  the  work  in  every 
respect  to  be  equivalent  to  that  done  in  colleges 
for  men. 

This  curriculum  provided  for  the  freshman 
year,  Cicero's  Orations,  Greek  Testament, 
algebra,  astronomy  and  botany,  history  and 
the  English  poets;  for  the  sophomore  year, 
Tacitus,  Greek  Testament  and  Homer,  geom- 
etry, French,  political  economy  and  civil 
government,  rhetoric,  and  philosophy.  The 
junior  year  gave  logic,  German,  or  French, 
Kame's  "Criticism,"  English,  philosophy, 
geology,  mineralogy,  chemistry,  and  trigono- 
metry. The  senior  year  offered  Paley  and 
Butler,  mental  science  and  moral  philosophy, 
conic  sections  and  mathematical  astronomy, 
French  or  German,  English  literature.  The 
studies  of  the  programme  were  "recited"  from 


78        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

four  to  five  times  a  week,  "making  a  weekly 
schedule  of  not  less  than  twenty-six  to  twenty- 
eight  recitations,"  —  "strenuous,"  as  is 
claimed,  but  suggestive  of  a  lingering  of  the 
school  idea  of  that  day  about  the  college.  But 
the  curriculum  is  certainly  a  thoroughly  re- 
spectable one,  and  it  must  be  compared  with 
the  standards  of  that  day.  The  college  deserved 
the  entire  respect  of  those  who  were  compar- 
ing the  new  effort  with  the  standards  of  men*s 
colleges  in  general.  It  can  hardly  be  claimed, 
however,  that  this  curriculum  is  the  equiva- 
lent of  some  of  those  we  have  reviewed,  and 
which  had  already  been  taken  by  women. 
Indeed,  the  claim  that  "to  Elmira  and  to  no 
other  belongs  the  distinction,  the  honor,  and 
the  glory  of  introducing  into  the  world's  civili- 
zation college  education  for  women,"  cannot 
be  for  a  moment  entertained,  in  light  of  the 
history  which  we  have  been  following.  Per- 
haps it  is  never  true  that  a  great  movement  is 
found  to  have  such  a  single  and  definite  source. 
But  Elmira  was  a  step  forward,  and  deserved 
more  honor  and  attention  and  support  than 
were  awarded  it.  It  met  ridicule,  which  is  sur- 


AT  THE  NORTH  79 

prising  enough  when  one  recalls  the  history  of 
the  South  and  West,  and  skepticism  and  oppo- 
sition, and  suffered  from  a  lack  of  the  financial 
support  which  it  deserved.  But  what  a  strange 
revelation  of  ignorance  of  what  had  been 
already  accomplished  in  other  parts  of  the 
land,  when  a  college  president  called  it  "fad- 
dish" to  say  that  a  woman  could  comprehend 
college  mathematics,  or  master  the  Greek 
verb;  and  another  declared  the  effort  to  give 
women  "a  man's  education"  "too  ridiculous," 
and  a  professor  of  philosophy  said  that  the 
effort  to  teach  women  his  branch  of  study  was 
"beyond  his  comprehension"! 

In  1865,  when  Vassar  opened,  Elmira's 
faculty  consisted  of  a  president,  one  other  man 
professor,  a  lady  principal,  called  "precep- 
tress" in  "history,  physiology,  and  Enghsh 
literature,"  and  a  "preceptress"  in  "modern 
languages,  Latin,  and  algebra."  There  is  an 
assistant  preceptress  in  history,  arithmetic, 
Latin,  and  drawing,  three  teachers  of  music 
—  a  college  faculty  of  six  or  seven.  There  are 
74  in  college  classes  and  108  in  the  preparatory 
school.   Fourteen  graduated  in  1864,  and  the 


80        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

total  number  of  graduates  is  94.  The  freshmen 
are  called  "protomathians/*  a  singular  effort 
to  escape  a  "masculine"  word,  a  likeness  to 
which  effort  has  prevailed  at  Smith  for  many 
years.  Probably  "preceptress"  was  invented 
to  escape  the  use  of  "professor"  for  women. 

This  report  of  1865  (the  Regents')  shows 
Greek  optional,  and,  by  special  vote  of  the 
faculty,  the  possible  substitution  of  music  and 
painting  for  German.  The  claim  is  made  that 
there  is  "nearly  the  ordinary  amount  of  Latin 
and  mathematics";  that  "it  has  been  some- 
what difficult  to  arrange  with  entire  satisfac- 
tion a  college  course  of  study  for  young  ladies." 
It  furnishes  "an  appropriate  share  of  those 
elegant  accomplishments  which  are  so  highly 
esteemed  in  social  life."  Altogether  this  report 
of  1865  seems  to  denote  a  struggle  with  great 
difficulties  and  a  question  as  to  the  possibility, 
in  the  state  of  public  opinion,  of  maintaining 
the  high  standard  of  ten  years  before.  The 
endowment  was  only  $5500;  the  real  estate, 
$90,000;  the  income  from  students,  $26,505; 
and  the  funded  debt  was  $14,000.  The  salary- 
list  was  only  $4865.  The  charge  for  board  and 


AT   THE  NORTH  81 

tuition  was  but  $200  (laundry  extra).  It  was 
a  hard  struggle  to  maintain  standards  in  such 
conditions,  but  the  effort  was  worthy,  and 
Elmira  should  ha\ne  had  the  generous  and 
hearty  support  then  which  would  have  given 
it  the  place  it  deserved  through  its  pioneer 
effort.  1 

^  This  material  is  gathered  from  a  letter  from  President 
Mackenzie;  copies  of  the  Curriculum  of  1855;  the  Regents' 
Report  of  1865,  which  also  gives  the  course  of  study  for  that 
year;  and  material  from  a  college  publication,  furnished  by  the 
President. 


Ill 

THE  INCEPTION  OF  MATTHEW  VASSAr's  PLAN 

In  view  of  the  various  efforts  already  made, 
both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  to  give  a 
college  education  to  girls,  it  might  be  supposed 
that  there  would  be  no  claim  to  novelty  or 
originality  on  the  part  of  the  plan  announced 
by  Mr.  Vassar.  That  claim,  however,  was  dis- 
tinctly made  in  the  literature  of  the  time,  and 
made  also  by  men  prominent  in  educational 
work,  in  some  cases  even  by  those  engaged  in 
the  more  advanced  types  of  the  schools  and 
so-called  colleges  for  young  women.  There 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  fact :  the  new  col- 
lege was  heralded  as  a  beginning  of  a  new 
work,  and  its  founder  as  the  discoverer  of  a 
fresh  principle.  How  could  it  be.^^  How,  — 
save  that  the  work  already  done  had  not  been 
such  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  world, 
and  had  not  gained  such  proportions  or  been 
set  in  such  an  environment  as  to  impress  any 
but  the  small  circle  devoted  to  it?  The  inter- 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    83 

change  of  ideas  was  not  rapid,  as  judged  by 
our  present  modes.  Oberlin  was  remote, 
Georgia  and  Mary  Sharp  were  local  in  name 
and  influence,  Elmira  had  just  begun  its  work, 
and  was  generally  thought  of,  no  doubt,  as 
another  large  school  for  girls.  Moreover,  a 
great  movement  often  depends  on  a  great 
opportunity,  and  the  years  of  our  bitter  Civil 
War  were  really  the  open  sesame  for  the  bud- 
ding and  blossoming  and  fruiting  of  the  sub- 
conscious demands  for  larger  activities,  larger 
pubUc  responsibilities,  and  a  more  generous 
education  for  womankind.  It  was  one  of  the 
happy  synchronisms  of  history  which  opened 
the  doors  of  Vassar  in  the  very  year  which 
closed  those  of  the  temple  of  Janus  and  gave 
to  us  a  reunited  country  with  new  outlook,  new 
necessities,  and  new  opportunities.  Nothing 
shows  more  clearly  that  there  had  been  no  ex- 
tensive demand  for  college  education  for  women 
than  the  figures  given  in  the  preceding  chapters. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  century  opportunities  had 
been  offered  and  they  were  recognized  by  very 
few.  The  time  for  the  movement  in  behalf  of  wo- 
men had  not  come,  but  when  it  came  the  recog- 


84        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

nition  was  swift  and  the  rapidity  of  the  response 
was  momentous.  Vassar  really  marked  an  epoch. 
Therefore  to  most  the  foundation  seemed  new, 
and  the  founder  one  of  the  great  Originals. 

How  did  it  come  to  pass  that  the  name  of 
this  childless  old  man,  a  Poughkeepsie  brewer, 
self-educated  and  self-made,  became  identified 
with  one  of  the  most  remarkable  causes  of  the 
nineteenth  century?  The  answer  is  full  of 
interest,  and  much  of  the  inner  history  of  the 
influences  that  worked  for  the  idea,  amid  great 
oppositions  and  many  threatening  pitfalls,  has 
never  been  printed  before.  It  would  be  a  great 
mistake  to  credit  Mr.  Vassar  with  original  im- 
pulse in  the  undertaking,  or  with  native  grasp 
of  the  great  ideas  which  he  later  formulated  in 
words  so  expressive  and  so  striking. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  the  story  of  his  life. 
Suflfice  it  to  say  that,  born  in  England  in  1792, 
he  came  to  this  country  with  his  parents  in 
1796,  settled  near  Poughkeepsie,  was  trained 
in  the  business  of  brewing  ale,  and  worked  up 
from  poverty  to  the  possession  of  what  was 
then  esteemed  a  great  fortune,  —  over  $800,- 
000.   He  was  not  only  simple  and  thrifty  in  his 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    85 

habits;  he  was  soKd  in  his  interests  and  acquire- 
ments, read  good  books  with  thoughtfuhiess, 
and  expressed  his  views  of  them  in  simple  and 
effective  style.  He  had  no  children,  and  as  his 
fortune  grew  the  question  of  its  ulterior  use 
employed  his  mind,  and  became  a  factor  in  his 
conversation  with  his  friends.  He  had  been 
much  impressed,  during  a  trip  to  Europe  in 
1845,  by  the  Thomas  Guy  Hospital  of  London, 
the  founder  of  which  was  a  distant  kinsman  of 
his  family,  and  he  had  resolved  to  devote  a 
large  part  of  his  fortune,  during  his  lifetime,  to 
some  benevolent  purpose.  As  late  as  1855  that 
purpose  was  the  foundation  of  a  hospital;  but 
his  plan  to  build  in  his  lifetime  must  have 
wavered  if  we  accept  the  statement  of  Dr. 
Jewett's  narrative  (in  manuscript)  that  Mr. 
Vassar  told  him,  in  1855,  that  his  will  provided 
that  the  bulk  of  his  estate  should  go  to  his  two 
nephews,  they  having  agreed  that  on  the  death 
of  the  last  survivor  "the  aggregate  of  the  three 
estates  should  go  to  the  erection  of  the  pro- 
posed hospital."^  "He  added:  *In  making  this 

^  Dr.  Jewett's  manuscript  narrative,  "Origin  of  Vassar 
College,"  p.  6. 


86        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

disposition  of  my  property,  I  desire  to  build  a 
monument  to  myself,  to  perpetuate  my  own 
name,  to  do  something  for  Poughkeepsie  where 
I  have  made  all  my  money,  and  to  do  good  for 
my  fellowmen.'  'And  now,'  he  asked,  *what 
do  you  think  of  my  plan?'"  This  question 
introduces  us  to  the  man  whose  clear  thought 
was  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  the  change  in 
Mr.  Vassar's  plans,  and  whose  influence  was 
the  dominant  factor  in  the  whole  scheme  till 
the  unhappy  circumstances  arose  which  sepa- 
rated him  from  it  just  before  the  college  was  to 
open  its  doors. 

The  origin  of  the  idea  in  Mr.  Vassar's  mind 
has  been  ascribed  frequently  to  his  niece, 
Lydia  Booth,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Cot- 
tage Hill  Seminary  for  girls  in  Poughkeepsie, 
the  building  for  which  was  owned  by  Mr. 
Vassar.  Lossing  tells  us^  that  Miss  Booth  made 
frequent  suggestions  to  Mr.  Vassar  of  the 
founding  of  an  institution  "of  a  higher  order 
than  any  then  existing"  for  her  sex,  and  that 
"the  suggestion  made  a  deep  impression  on  his 
mind."   The  earliest  statement,  however,  on 

»  Vassar  College  and  its  Founder,  pp.  69,  81. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    87 

the  matter,  that  is  known  to  us  is  contained 
in  Mr.  Vassar's  address  to  the  trustees,  on 
February  23,  1864.  He  says:  ^  — 

And  yet  it  is  due  to  truth  to  say  that  my  great 
interest  on  the  subject  of  female  education  was 
awakened  not  less  than  twenty  years  ago  by  an 
intimate  female  friend  and  relative,  now  deceased, 
who  conducted  a  seminary  of  long  standing  and 
character  in  this  city.  That  close  intimacy  and 
interest  continued  many  years,  until  just  before 
the  institution  passed  into  the  hands  of  our  Presi- 
dent. It  was  this  fact,  more  than  any  other,  and 
more  than  all  others,  that  awakened  me  early  to 
the  possibility  and  necessity  of  an  institution  like 
the  one  we  now  propose. 

Again,  in  an  autobiographic  manuscript, 
preserved  in  the  Matthew  Vassar  Museum, 
written  in  December,  1866,  he  says:  — 

About  1845 1  visited  Europe  and  while  in  London 
visited  the  famous  "Guy"  Hospital,  the  founder 
of  which  a  family  relative,  "John  (Thomas?) 
Guy,"  my  nephew  John  Guy  Vassar  had  the 
honor  of  being  named  after.  Seeing  this  institution 
first  suggested  the  idea  of  devoting  a  portion  of  my 
estate  to  some  charitable  purpose,  and  about  this 
period  took  quite  an  interest  in  a  niece  of  mine, 

*  Communications  of  the  Founder,  February  23,  1864. 


88       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Lydia  Booth,  who  was  then  engaged  in  a  small 
way  in  the  tuition  of  children  resulting  in  after 
years  in  the  opening  of  a  female  seminary  in  Pough- 
keepsie  being  the  first  of  kind  excepting  one  other, 
Mrs.  Conger,  in  the  village.  The  force  of  circum- 
stances brought  me  occasionally  in  business  inter- 
course with  my  Niece,  which  will  account  for  the 
early  direction  of  my  mind  for  the  enlarged  educa- 
tion of  women  and  the  subsequent  drift  of  inquiries 
in  my  conversation  and  correspondence  with 
gentlemen  educators  in  this  country  and  a  few  in 
Europe,  which  by  reference  to  letters  on  file  will 
more  fully  appear. 

It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  this  was 
written  after  the  college  was  in  large  part 
built  and  organized,  and  when  the  influence  of 
the  mind  which  had  been  chiefly  potent  in 
prompting  it  had  waned.  In  his  great  first 
address,  in  1861,  he  makes  no  reference  to  the 
source  of  his  idea.  Mr.  Swan,  Mr.  Vassar's 
closest  friend,  thought  Miss  Booth's  influence 
was  "infinitesimal."  It  is  surely  most  unlikely 
that  this  excellent  woman,  who  controlled 
an  ordinary  young  woman's  seminary,  had 
any  large  vision  of  a  college.  In  any  case. 
Miss  Booth  had  died,  and  Mr.  Vassar's  will 
had  been  made  without  any  reference  to  the 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    89 

educational  project.  Then,  in  1855,  Dr.  Jewett 
appears  upon  the  scene.  ^ 

Milo  P.  Jewett  was  born  in  Vermont  in  1808, 
was  graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  1828,  and  at 
the  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1830. 
He  felt  that  his  call  was  to  teach^  and  accepted 
a  chair  in  Marietta  College  and  also  gave  his 
energies  toward  the  establishment  of  a  public 
school  system  for  Ohio.  Having  changed  his 
views  on  baptism,  he  resigned  his  chair  in 
1838,  went  South,  and  established  the  Judson 
Female  Institute  at  Marion,  Alabama,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1839.''  It  was  one  of  the  strong  and  best- 
known  schools  of  the  South,  with  a  patronage 
running  up  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 
Owing  to  the  growth  and  intensity  of  the  anti- 
slavery  discussions,  Mr.  Jewett  left  the  South 

*  The  founder  writes  Mrs.  S.  J.  Hale  ("editress"  of  Godey's 
Lady^s  Book),  January  25, 1864:  "At  the  incipient  stage  of  the 
contemplated  scheme,  before  lisping  the  idea  to  any  mortal, 
I  first  conferred  with  my  friend  Professor  Jewett,  from  whom 
I  not  only  received  a  full  endorsement  of  my  view,  but  he 
largely  contributed  to  aid  me  in  its  further  development." 
It  was  natural  enough  that  the  founder  should  have  so 
blended  his  various  thoughts  of  a  time  then  many  years  behind 
him  as  to  fail  to  distinguish  the  strands  of  influence  that  had 
guided  him. 

*  Educational  Review,  October,  1912,  p.  228. 


90       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

in  1855,  and  purchased  the  school  in  Pough- 
keepsie  which  had  been  conducted  by  Lydia 
Booth.  Thus  he  was  thrown  into  relations  of 
increasing  intimacy  with  Matthew  Vassar. 

The  unhappy  circumstances  of  1864,  which 
dissolved  at  once  this  friendship  and  Dr. 
Jewett's  relations  to  Vassar  College,  must  con- 
cern us  later,  but  they  were  the  occasion,  after 
his  retirement,  of  the  preparation  of  a  manu- 
script by  Dr.  Jewett  which  reviewed  the  incep- 
tion of  the  enterprise  and  its  progress  till  the 
close  of  his  connection  with  it.  This  paper, 
entitled  "  Origin  of  Vassar  College,"  was  written 
by  Dr.  Jewett  in  Milwaukee,  where  he  spent 
his  later  years,  and  where  he  was  an  officer  of 
the  Board  of  the  Milwaukee  Female  College, 
and  for  a  time  also  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors  of  the  State  University.  The  manu- 
script of  149  pages  of  legal  cap  is  signed  in 
March,  1879,  in  a  trembHng  hand,  by  Milo  P. 
Jewett.  This  was  fifteen  years  after  he  left 
Vassar,  and  possibly  there  may  be  occasional 
failures  in  his  recollections ;  but  his  statements 
are  buttressed  by  papers  of  his  own,  dating 
from  these  active  years  and  incorporated  in 


« 
9^^ 


^m^ 


MILO    P.    JEWETT 
President  of  Vaasar  College  1861-1864 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    91 

his  story.  The  college  archives  also  contain 
letters  corroborative  of  the  general  narrative. 

Mr.  Jewett  and  Mr.  Vassar  were  associated 
in  the  same  church,  though  Mr.  Vassar  had 
not  himself  joined  the  church,  but  was  "fond 
of  talking  on  religious  subjects,"  and  they 
became  gradually  "free  and  confidential." 
Mr.  Jewett  came  thus  to  speak  plainly  of  the 
duty  "of  the  rich  man  to  use  his  property  for 
the  glory  of  God."  At  length  Mr.  Vassar  told 
him  his  plan,  as  already  stated,  and  to  his 
question  Mr.  Jewett  answered  frankly  that  it 
did  not  strike  him  favorably.  "Great  hospi- 
tals are  for  great  cities."  To  spend  a  great  sum 
in  a  city  "not  a  seaport,"  and  not  likely  ever 
to  exceed  "forty  or  fifty  thousand  inhabitants," 
seemed  to  him  "an  unwise  use  of  money." 
"Indeed,  I  think  you  might  as  well  throw  it 
into  the  Hudson  River!" 

"Mr.  Vassar  expressed  great  surprise  at  this 
unexpected  disapproval  of  his  plans,"  but  Mr. 
Jewett  then,  and  subsequently,  by  word  and 
by  writing,  followed  up  his  attack  on  the  cher- 
ished scheme  until  Mr.  Vassar  became  "dis- 
satisfied with  the  provisions  of  his  will." 


92       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

"One  day,  in  a  characteristic  outburst  of 
impatience  he  petulantly  exclaimed,  *I  wish 
somebody  would  tell  me  what  to  do  with  my 
money!  It*s  the  plague  of  my  life  —  keeps  me 
awake  o'  nights  —  stocks  going  down,  banks 
breaking,  insurance  companies  failing!'"  Mr. 
Jewett  seized  his  opportunity,  told  him  of  a 
scheme  which  had  been  growing  in  his  mind 
for  several  years,  which  he  could  never  execute, 
but  which  Mr.  Vassar's  money  would  make 
possible.  "It's  to  build  and  endow  a  college 
for  young  women  which  shall  be  to  them  what 
Yale  and  Harvard  are  to  young  men."  "There 
is  not  an  endowed  college  for  young  women  in 
the  world,"  he  told  him,  though  ^* 'plenty  of 
female  colleges  so-called,"  with  "no  libraries, 
cabinets,  museums,  apparatus  worth  mention- 
ing." If  he  would  build  such  a  college  it  would 
be  a  "monument  more  lasting  than  the  pyra- 
mids." "The  idea  caught  the  imagination  of 
Mr.  Vassar,  and  then  and  there  Vassar  College 
was  born."  "This  was  in  the  winter  of  1855- 
56." 

It  is  a  rather  remarkable  statement  of  Mr. 
Jewett*s  that,  so  far  as  he  knows,  even  the 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    93 

most  advanced  thinkers  on  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  "the  weaker  sex"  had  not  entertained 
this  conception  of  a  substantially  equivalent 
education.  He  refers  to  Miss  Beecher  and 
Mary  Lyon,  but  finds  no  trace  of  the  idea  of  a 
"full  course  of  liberal  studies  in  an  institution 
fully  equipped  and  amply  endowed."  It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  this  man  was  a  New 
Englander,  too,  a  graduate  of  one  of  its  leading 
colleges,  —  a  frequent  speaker  on  educational 
issues,  a  professor  in  an  Ohio  college,  associ- 
ated with  the  Ohio  school  system,  and  with  a 
long  and  successful  experience  in  the  education 
of  girls.  And  he  calls  this  "the  first  female 
college  in  the  world."  Evidently  priority  of 
date  is  not  so  much  in  his  mind  as  the  fullness 
of  equipment. 

Mr.  Jewett  saw  that  he  had  deeply  impressed 
his  friend  and  followed  up  his  advantage.  He 
gives  us  one  of  the  papers  submitted  to  Mr. 
Vassar  at  that  time,  entitled  "Facts  and  reflec- 
tions respecting  the  founding  of  a  College  for 
Young  Ladies,  addressed  to  Matthew  Vassar, 
Esq."  1 

^  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  10. 


94        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

He  begins  with  quotations  regarding  the 
education  of  females,  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Spring,  the  highly  distinguished  clergyman  of 
New  York,  —  a  fine  passage  satisfactory  to 
every  believer  of  to-day,  —  and  from  Lord 
Brougham.  He  dwells  then  on  the  influence  of 
mothers  and  the  dependence  on  their  wise 
education  of  the  future  of  the  country;  he 
points  out  the  influence  of  teachers,  60,000 
female  teachers  being  then  at  work  in  the 
land.  Nothing  can  meet  the  demand  but 
the  establishment  of  institutions  of  collegiate 
rank  for  women.  He  tells  of  the  inestimable 
value  of  the  colleges  for  men  and  the  truth  that 
like  conclusions  must  be  accepted  for  the  other 
sex.  With  tact  he  indicates  the  high  honor 
accorded  to  the  founders  of  these  institutions, 
and  adds,  but  "not  one  single  college  for 
young  women  has  yet  been  established  in  this 
country."  He  means,  he  says,  "that  not  one 
has  been  founded  and  endowed  which  will 
compare  with  any  of  the  respectable  colleges 
for  our  own  sex."  They  have  no  high  stand- 
ards and  no  permanency.  They  are  individual 
or  sectarian.   He  then  proceeds  to  sketch  the 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    95 

needs  of  such  an  institution,  —  "buildings, 
libraries,  cabinets,  apparatus,  etc.,  a  full  fac- 
ulty of  instructors,  men  of  learning  and  repu- 
tation; endowments  to  secure  permanency, 
and  to  support  worthy  indigent  students  of 
promising  talents."  He  pays  a  tribute  to  Mary 
Lyon's  work,  but  says  all  that  has  been  done 
can  never  compare  with  "Yale,  Brown,  or 
Union  **  unless  there  be  abundant  endowments. 
The  demand,  however,  is  sure,  as  is  shown  in 
the  endowment  of  some  schools,  and  in  the  ef- 
forts of  "  the  American  Woman's  Education 
Association,"  which  was  chartered  in  New 
York  in  1852,  and  has  already  started,  on  a 
small  scale,  colleges  in  Milwaukee  and  Du- 
buque. He  mentions  impressive  names  of  men 
and  women  enlisted  in  the  work. 

Then  he  appeals  directly  to  Mr.  Vassar 
regarding  the  employment  of  "the  thousands 
over  which  God  has  made  you  steward"  for 
this  very  end.  How  can  he  appropriate  his 
property  "more  wisely,  more  usefully,  more 
nobly?"  He  appeals  to  his  interest  in  the 
Sunday-School,  Bible  Societies,  Missions,  the 
development  of  the  West,  his  pride  in  Pough- 


96        BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

keepsie,  the  love  of  his  town,  his  country,  and 
his  God,  and  indicates  that  the  work  for  a 
college  for  women  will  promote  all  these  and 
establish  his  own  fame.  "From  its  towers 
lifted  to  the  sky  it  will  reflect  the  luster  of 
your  munificence  so  long  as  the  sun  shall  shine 
in  the  heavens."  And  the  present  is  the  time  for 
action,  —  "at  least  so  far  as  to  make  final 
testamentary  arrangements  on  the  subject." 
His  might  be  the  privilege  of  leadership  and 
example,  like  "Elisha  [!]  Yale,  John  Harvard, 
and  Mr.  Brown."  What  Fulton  and  Morse  had 
done  for  physical  and  material  interests  (Morse 
was  a  townsman  of  Vassar,  and  later  one  of 
the  charter  trustees  of  the  College),  he  might 
do  for  this  higher  cause.  Others  had  written 
of  steam  and  electricity,  but  these  had  done 
the  deed  and  won  the  fame.  "To  you  Provi- 
dence offers  the  high  privilege,  the  peculiar 
honor,  of  actually  establishing  and  putting  into 
operation  the  first  grand  permanent  endowed 
Female  College  ever  opened  in  the  United 
States";  and  he  adds  a  fervent  appeal  to  the 
consecration  of  his  wealth  to  this  high  end. 
Even  if  his  nephews  should  not  join  him,  — 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    97 

and  Dr.  Jewett  had  reason  to  doubt  their 
interest,  —  Mr.  Vassar  was  assured  that  he 
himself  could  carry  through  the  scheme. 

At  once  Mr.  Vassar  brought  up  objections 
that  occurred  to  his  cautious  mind.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  the  absence  from  them  of  the 
considerations  popularly  urged,  even  yet, 
against  college  education  for  girls.  These 
objections  are  inferred  from  another  of  Dr. 
Jewett's  letters  given  us  in  full,  answering  in 
detail  a  letter  of  Mr.  Vassar's,  and  showing  the 
tactfulness  of  Dr.  Jewett's  approach  as  well  as 
the  force  of  his  conviction. 

Objections  are  natural,  says  Jewett.  How- 
ard, Columbus,  Mary  Lyon,  met  them.  The 
wise  man  will  look  for  basal  principles  and 
then  move  serenely  on.  There  are  two  ques- 
tions he  asks  "in  the  presence  of  the  Searcher 
of  Hearts"  when  he  "is  really  desirous  to 
decide  on  the  particular  path  in  which  Provi- 
dence would  have  him  walk.'*  "Is  the  plan  or 
enterprise  judicious.'*"   "Is  it  practicable?" 

Regarding  the  former  query,  he  refers  back 
to  the  earlier  document,  which  was  only  a 
sketch,  "knowing  that  for  you  nothing  more 


98       BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

was  necessary."   He  then  takes  up,  seriatim^ 
"the  objections  in  your  note." 

1.  The  envy  that  might  be  excited  among 
smaller  institutions.  This  is  not  sustained  by 
the  experience  of  men's  colleges.  The  stand- 
ards would  be  everywhere  raised.  The  sec- 
tarian element  can  be  carefully  excluded. 

2.  Private  and  select  schools  would  interfere 
with  the  scheme.  These  will  always  exist,  but 
enough  patrons  remain  who  appreciate  "supe- 
rior education"  "to  fill  up  a  dozen  such  insti- 
tutions as  you  contemplate,"  and  the  better 
the  seminaries  the  fuller  they  are.  Over  two 
thousand  are  in  the  Willard,  Spingler,  Rutgers, 
Pittsfield,  the  Packer;  and  the  New  England 
schools  have  an  equal  number.  These  would  be 
"nurseries  for  the  college."  The  fear  that 
large  schools  for  girls  encourage  bad  habits, 
tastes,  and  depraved  principles  is  entirely 
unsustained.  The  facts  are  against  the  smaller. 

3.  Is  there  not  a  prejudice  against  the  insti- 
tutions as  aristocratic?  "Not  a  growing"  one. 
It  is  less  so  than  twenty-five  years  earlier. 
Never  did  the  colleges  so  fully  command  the 
confidence  of  the  people. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    99 

4.  Will  not  the  wealthy  object  to  the  educa- 
tion of  their  daughters  with  the  poor?  Not 
often,  though  that  may  be  true  of  a  "solitary 
snob."  Mind  is  the  standard  in  colleges,  and 
talent  secures  rank.  Wealth  appreciates  this, 
and  Holyoke  demonstrates  it. 

5.  Why  raise  the  poor  above  their  sphere, 
and  awaken  aspirations  that  can  never  be  satis- 
fied? That  opens  the  whole  question  of  edu- 
cating women,  and  the  century  has  settled  that 
she  shall  be  educated.  Let  her  have  the  highest 
education  her  faculties  can  receive;  only  let 
it  be  as  Dr.  Sears  writes,  "of  the  feminine 
gender." 

6.  "Have  not  gigantic  enterprises  failed 
either  through  the  incapacity  or  dishonesty  of 
disbursing  agents,  or  from  other  causes?"  Not 
educational  enterprises!  Yale,  Harvard,  An- 
dover  have  not  lost  a  dollar.  Even  Girard 
succeeds,  though  under  a  city  corporation, 
"without  soul  or  conscience." 

So  after  meeting  objections.  Dr.  Jewett  now 
adduces  a  new  argument.  All  the  seminaries 
are  trying  to  persuade  the  public  that  they  are 
"colleges  for  young  ladies."  That  proves  the 


100      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

demand!  The  college  would  be  popular.  The 
enterprise  is  "judicious." 

*'Is  it  practicable?'*  A  second  note  from 
Mr.  Vassar  had  raised  this  issue.  "I  perceive 
that  you  have  decided  that  the  plan  is  not 
*  practicable '  on  the  large  scale  heretofore  con- 
templated." "Very  good;  let  us  reduce  the 
scale,  the  principle  will  remain  unchanged." 
Mr.  Vassar  had  asked  for  a  scheme  which 
would  employ  the  bulk  of  the  three  estates, 
his  nephews'  and  his  own.  The  nephews  were 
"not  prepared  to  pledge  their  cooperation"  — 
(a  mild  and  patient  statement  in  view  of  the 
facts!).  A  smaller  scheme  was  called  for,  but 
one  leaving  "room  for  future  growth  and 
expansion."  Dr.  Jewett  assures  Mr.  Vassar 
that  he  can  found  "an  institution  far  beyond 
anything  existing  and  which  will  in  the  future 
realize  all  the  grand  and  splendid  results  to 
which  I  have  heretofore  adverted."  He  closes 
with  the  hope  that  Mr.  Vassar  will  find  the 
scheme  both  practical  and  practicable  and  that 
he  will  live  to  see  the  enterprise  consummated. 

In  a  note  to  this  letter  he  tells  us  that  he  fur- 
nished "details  of  the  reduced  plans,"  but  that 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    101 

"subsequently  the  financial  skies  brightened," 
and  "Mr.  Vassar  incorporated  in  his  will 
another  plan  which  I  furnished  him,  appropri- 
ating $400,000  to  the  college." 

The  scheme,  however,  had  not  yet  passed 
beyond  the  dangers  which  threatened  its  reali- 
zation. The  nephews,  Matthew,  Jr.,  and  John 
Guy,  who  favored  the  plan  for  the  hospital, 
watched  the  new  scheme  with  suspicion  and 
without  sympathy,  but,  according  to  Dr. 
Jewett's  testimony,  with  apparent  friendliness 
for  him,  and  with  confidence  that  their  uncle 
would  again  change  his  mind.  It  is  said  that 
Mr.  Vassar  frequently  made  a  new  will,  in 
the  uncertainties  he  felt  as  to  the  wise  disposi- 
tion of  his  property.  Meanwhile,  to  strengthen 
his  purpose  Jewett  entered  into  correspondence 
with  a  number  of  educators,  telling  them  that  a 
gentleman  of  wealth  had  under  consideration 
the  endowment  of  a  college  for  young  women 
and  asking  their  views  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
project.  He  tells  us  that,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, they  gave  it  their  warmest  approval. 
These  letters  were  placed  in  Mr.  Vassar's 
hands,  and  greatly  influenced  his  mind.^ 

*  Jewett's  narrative,  p.  36;  cf.  46. 


102      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Scarcely  a  trace  of  them  has  been  found. 
After  Mr.  Vassar's  death  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  sold 
to  a  ragman  the  founder's  great  accumulation 
of  papers  and  letters,  dating  back  to  his  early 
years.  Mr.  Oliver  Booth  expostulated  with 
him,  but  he  replied,  "See  how  much  I  have 
added  to  the  estate ! "  ^  It  is  probable  that  these 
valuable  letters  were  thus  destroyed.  We 
know  that  among  those  consulted  were  Barnas 
Sears,  President  of  Brown;  Jacob  Abbott; 
Presidents  Anderson  and  Robinson.  Dr. 
Charles  West,  of  Brooklyn,  formerly  of  Rut- 
gers Institute,  New  York,  who  for  many  years 
was  a  leader  in  all  the  best  work  for  woman's 
education,  was  one  of  these  correspondents. 
Under  date  of  February  6,  1888,  he  addressed 
the  writer  a  letter,  asking  if  among  the  college 
papers  one  was  to  be  found  by  him  in  which  he 
had  answered  "in  extenso"  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Jewett  written  to  him  in  November,  1855. 
Jewett  had  asked  his  views  on  the  following 
points,  —  and  the  questions  are  probably 
those  which  he  put  in  all  his  "one  hundred 

^  Statement  of  O.  Booth  to  Mr.  Henry  Booth,  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  from  whom  the  writer  receives  it. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    103 

letters."  It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  the 
language  is  Jewett's  or  West's,  though  quota- 
tion marks  {at  the  end  only)  and  the  copy  of  the 
signature  of  Jewett  would  indicate  that  it  is  a 
copy  of  the  original. 

I.  The  Organization,  a.  If  collegiate,  how  shall 
the  instructors  be  supported?  h.  Endowments, 
how  far  desirable?  c.  What  foundations  for  provi- 
sions (?  —  the  word  is  uncertain),  etc.? 

II.  The  course  of  study,  a.  Ancient  Languages. 
What  and  how  far?  h.  Modern  Languages,  pre- 
requisite to  a  diploma?  c.  Shall  all  students  pursue 
a  classical  course?  d.  What  shall  be  deemed  an 
equivalent?  e.  Degrees,  under  what  title? 

III.  Buildings,  how  many  and  what  to  accom- 
modate 300  boarders,  furnishing  all  needful  liter- 
ary, scientific,  social  and  religious  appliances?  How 
can  family  influence  be  secured? 

IV.  Apparatus,  amount  and  cost? 

At  present  publicity  is  not  desired,  you  will 
therefore  please  regard  this  communication  as 
confidential." 

M.  P.  Jewett." 

Mr.  Vassar  now  asked  Dr.  Jewett  to  outline 
for  him  a  plan  of  the  institution  he  proposed. 
Many  weeks  were  spent  in  elaborating  a 
scheme   which   should   include   buildings,  — 


104      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

apparatus,  library,  museum,  observatory,  gym- 
nasium, art  gallery,  a  course  of  study,  the 
faculty  required,  salaries,  wages,  etc.  By  the 
time  this  was  done,  Mr.  Vassar  had  determined 
to  devote  the  bulk  of  his  property  to  a  college, 
after  his  deathy  and  in  June,  1857,  he  destroyed 
his  former  will  and  with  his  own  hand  wrote  a 
new  one,  in  which  he  copied  Jewett's  plan^ 
"word  for  word,"  devoted  $400,000  to  the 
work,  and  provided  that  it  should  be  estabhshed 
on  the  outlined  plan.  That  plan,  says  Jewett, 
who  kept  no  copy,  was  indicated  in  its  "gen- 
eral features"  in  the  famous  and  epochal 
address  of  Mr.  Vassar  to  his  new  trustees  in 
February,  1861.  Later,  Mr.  Jewett  induced 
Mr.  Vassar,  he  says,  to  add  a  codicil  to  the 
will,  giving  the  rest  of  his  estate  to  the  college. 
"The  next  step  was  to  persuade  Mr.  Vassar 
to  build  the  college  at  once,  that  he  might 
enjoy  the  supreme  satisfaction  of  seeing  it 
in  successful  operation."  Ever  since  he  had 
looked  on  the  inscription  on  the  Thomas  Guy 
Hospital,  Lossing  tells  us,  he  had  thought  of 
doing  something  worthy  while  he  was  alive, 
^  Jewett'a  manuscript  narrative,  p.  33. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    105 

but  it  was  only  by  a  gradual  process  that  he 
could  come  to  the  point  of  parting  with  his 
hard-earned  and  slowly  accumulated  fortune. 
Jewett  urged  the  value  of  his  long  business 
experience  in  connection  with  the  building  of 
the  college,  the  joy  to  be  reaped  by  doing  the 
work  himself,  the  escaping  of  a  possible  contest 
of  his  will,  the  crying  present  need  of  the  bene- 
fits he  contemplated  giving,  the  happiness  of 
seeing  the  students  from  the  whole  land  hail- 
ing him  as  friend  and  father  and  benefactor. 
But  the  times  seemed  unfavorable.  The  diffi- 
culties that  were  so  soon  to  ripen  into  war 
threatened  his  securities  and  might  imperil 
the  enterprise.  He  feared  he  might  be  like  the 
man  who  began  to  build  and  was  not  able 
to  finish,  and  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
scheme  urged  him  against  immediate  action. 
Jewett  wrote  a  friend  at  that  time,  "My 
mammoth  Vassar  College  is  likely  to  sleep  on 
ten  years  because  so  much  of  Mr.  Vassar's 
property  is  invested  in  railroad  stocks,  now 
twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent  below  par." 

But  Mr.  Vassar  was  determined  now  to 
carry  out  his  plan  and  frequently  refers  in  his 


106      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

letters  to  his  pleasure  in  being  his  own  execu- 
tor. He  is  warned  by  the  extravagance  of  the 
Girard  executors.  He  desired  architectural 
designs.  Jewett  consulted  Tefft,  of  Providence, 
a  prominent  school  architect  who  made  the 
interesting  plans,  still  preserved,  but  rendered 
useless  by  his  untimely  death.  James  Renwick, 
Jr.,  of  New  York,  was  then  employed.  Jewett 
says  the  broad  corridors  adjacent  to  the  outer 
walls  were  Mr.  Vassar's  "pet  idea"*  but  that 
the  general  interior  plans  were  his  own, 
throughout,  including  the  large  number  of 
flights  of  stairs  and  the  unusual  fire-protection. 
The  architect  forgot  the  closets  which  he  had 
instructed  him  to  furnish !  He  wished  the  plans 
redrawn  later,  but  the  long  delay  was  urged  as 
the  reason  for  proceeding.^ 

Efforts  were  made  from  time  to  time  to 
secure  the  cooperation  of  his  nephews,  but 
without  result.  Jewett  accuses  them  of  devis- 
ing a  plan,  as  late  as  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1860,  to  divert  their  uncle's  attention  from  his 

*  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  42. 

'  Jewett  denies  all  foundation  for  the  legend  as  to  Mr. 
Vassar's  remark  that  the  girls  could  "drive  nails  in  the  walls 
and  hang  their  gowns  on  them." 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    107 

purpose,  so  as  to  save  the  bulk  of  the  fortune 
for  their  hospital  scheme,  to  which  eventually 
the  great  part  of  their  property  went.  The 
story  is  interesting  even  if  it  leaves  us  in  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  founder's  relation  to  the  scheme. 
Jewett  tells  us^  that  one  Sunday  morning  at 
"Sabbath  School,"  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  approached 
him  '*  gleefully,  rubbing  his  hands  "  and  "  beam- 
ing with  smiles,"  assuring  him  that  his  uncle 
was  about  to  build  a  school  for  boys,  one  for 
girls,  and  a  free  library,  in  the  city;  that  the 
project  was  already  before  the  legislature,  and 
announced  in  the  city  paper.  Jewett  saw  the 
significance  of  the  scheme  at  once,  and  that 
afternoon  addressed  to  Mr.  Vassar  a  letter  of 
which  he  gives  a  copy.  It  fills  four  pages  of 
legal  cap,  in  the  manuscript,  and  it  may  well 
be  called  crucial  in  the  history  of  Vassar  Col- 
lege. He  reminds  him  that  his  purpose  for 
three  years  had  been  adverse  to  dividing  up 
his  estate,  and  recalls  his  wish  to  perpetuate  his 
name  by  a  worthy  monument;  that  a  college 
for  women  had  been  contemplated  and  widely 
indorsed,  praised,  and  commended  by  distin- 
»  Manuscript  narrative,  pp.  44  seq. 


108      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

guished  men,  and  for  it  he  had  made  his  will. 
"In  this  did  you  act  intelligently,  wisely,  and 
judiciously?  I  think  you  did."  Now  he  learns 
he  has  abandoned  this  great  project  for  the 
small  scheme  suggested.  "O,  what  a  fall  was 
there,  my  countrymen ! "  "Your  advisers  have 
razed  your  magnificent  120-gun  ship  down  to 
a  barge !  You  give  up  your  coach  and  six  for  a 
wheel-barrow.  Your  monument  which  would 
have  been  more  enduring  than  the  pyramids 
is  given  up  for  a  pine  slab  placed  at  the  head 
of  your  grave."  He  points  out  the  purely  local 
character  of  the  proposition.  No  one  will  ever 
hear  of  it  outside  the  locality.  Other  places 
have  just  such  schools,  and  they  are  unheard 
of  beyond  their  narrow,  though  highly  bene- 
fited, constituencies.  He  replies  to  the  argu- 
ments which  have  been  used  to  induce  him  to 
"sacrifice  the  college."  It  is  too  vast  an  under- 
taking, "too  many  eggs  in  one  basket."  Secu- 
rities are  depressed,  and  the  $400,000  might 
possibly  fall  to  $250,000.  Even  then  a  good 
start  can  be  made,  he  affirms,  though  for  a 
smaller  college,  —  and  tuition  charges  may  be 
made,  not  calculated  before.  But  he  is  sure  of 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN     109 

the  full  value  of  the  property.  *' Leave  these 
insignificant  schools  to  men  of  small  means 
and  smaller  hearts.  Do  something,  I  beg  of 
you,  worthy  of  yourself,  worthy  of  your  ample 
fortune  Providence  has  given  you,  and  worthy 
of  Him  who  gave  it."  And  he  signs  the  letter 
with  a  heavy  heart  and  a  trembling  hand. 

The  story  that  follows  is  extraordinary  and 
not  free  from  contradictions.  We  have  Jewett's 
narrative,  and  a  few  brief  items  from  the  diary 
of  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,^  and  they  are  not  reconcilable 
in  a  most  vital  point.  Mr.  Jewett  says  that 
early  the  next  morning  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  called 
at  his  house  and  said,  "Uncle  Matthew  wishes 
to  see  you  immediately."  He  found  Mr. 
Vassar  with  his  note  of  Sunday  before  him. 
He,  Mr.  Vassar,  asserted  that "  the  proceedings 
at  Albany  were  without  his  sanction";  that 
his  nephews  had  urged  on  him  the  new  scheme, 
intimating  that  they  would  then  cooperate 
with  him  in  the  college  enterprise.  He  had 
never  seen  the  bill,  though  he  had  sought  to 
do  so,  but  it  had  been  hurried  to  Albany  and 
before  the  House.  He  was  ignorant  of  its  pro- 
*  Furnished  me  by  its  owner,  Mr.  Henry  Booth. 


110      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

visions,  and  was  now  convinced  it  was  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  college  project  and  he 
would  have  the  bill  withdrawn.  He  wished 
Jewett  to  go  with  him  to  his  counsel's  oflSce. 
He  declined,  but  after  leaving  Mr.  Vassar  con- 
sidered that  the  lawyer  might  influence  him 
wrongly,  and  that  he  would  better  go  to  his 
help.  He  found  Mr.  Vassar  and  the  counsel 
with  a  copy  of  the  bill  between  them.  "Pro- 
fessor Jewett  is  just  the  man  to  tell  us  how  to 
fill  these  blanks  specifying  the  age  at  which 
boys  and  girls  should  enter  the  High  Schools," 
was  the  courteous  word  of  greeting  to  him  by 
the  lawyer.  "Pushing  away  the  paper  which 
he  had  thrust  under  my  nose,  and  looking  him 
steadily  in  the  eyes,  I  said,  *I  care  nothing  for 
your  petty  village  schools  that  you  talk  about, 
but  answer  me  this :  if  the  bill  before  the  House 
becomes  a  law,  will  it  not  kill  Vassar  College 
dead?'"  The  counsel, confounded  by  the  sud- 
den attack,  "stammered  out:  'Mr.  Vassar  has 
given  up  the  college,  I  suppose'";  and  Mr. 
Jewett  regards  this  as  a  fatal  admission  of  the 
plan  of  the  "conspirators."  Mr.  Vassar  was 
angered,  sprang  from  his  chair,  stamped  his 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    111 

foot,  and  exclaimed,  "I  have  n*t  given  up  the 
college!  Have  never  thought  of  doing  it!"  — 
and  he  charged  the  counsel  with  the  responsi- 
bihty  of  drawing  the  bill  he  had  never  seen  and 
getting  it  before  the  Assembly  without  his 
consent,  and  bade  him  write  and  withdraw  the 
bill  at  once.  The  counsel  at  once  wrote  a  note 
stating  that  Mr.  Vassar  had  changed  his  mind 
and  would  withdraw  the  bill,  and  handed  it 
to  Mr.  Vassar.  He  threw  it  "angrily"  upon 
the  table,  saying,  *'I  haven't  changed  my 
mind.  I  never  have  had  but  one  mind  about 
the  matter";  and  instructed  the  counsel  to 
write  simply  to  stop  proceedings.  This  was 
done,  and  Mr.  Vassar  and  Mr  Jewett  mailed 
the  letter.  Mr.  Vassar  now  gave  up  all  hope  of 
the  cooperation  of  his  nephews,  and  for  "  nearly 
a  year"  "never  mentioned  the  college  to  them 
or  to  their  legal  adviser." 

Such  is  Mr.  Jewett's  story  of  a  crucial 
moment  in  the  life  of  the  great  undertaking, 
and  there  is  no  likelihood  that  there  is  any 
other  documentary  evidence  regarding  it,  sav- 
ing a  few  entries  in  the  diary  of  M.  Vassar, 
Jr.,  and  a  newspaper  statement  regarding  the 


112      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

withdrawal  of  the  bill.^  The  senior  Vassar*s 
diary  is  for  the  most  part  a  Hst  of  items. 

M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  in  his  journal  for  March  23, 
1859,  notes  that  he  was  "engaged  with  M.  V. 
and  Swift  out  at  Mill  Cove  Farm,  looking  at  a 
site  for  Female  CoUedge."  This  is  an  indica- 
tion of  cooperation  a  year  earlier  than  the 
events  under  review.  "Feby.  7,  1860,"  he 
writes,  "With  M.  V.  and  Swift  in  office  this 
day  talking  over  matters  pertaining  to  coUedge 
etc.,  reducing  the  extent,  etc."  This  last  clause 
closely  concerns  the  project  under  discussion. 
"Mch.  9,"  he  enters,  "Engaged  this  day  with 
M.  V.  and  Swift  preparg  papers  for  act  incor- 
poration from  Legislature  for  Vassar  high 
school  girls  and  also  Boys  high  school  and 
Vassar  Library.  C.  Swift  goes  up  this  day  to 
Albany."  "Mch.  13,"  he  says,  "The  applica- 
tion for  charter  for  Vassar  CoUedge  was  favor- 
able before  Legislature  but  further  passage  or 
action  checked  by  order  M.  V.  pr  telegraph 
from  Swift  on  a/c  of  some  discrepancies  in  bill 
and  phraseolgy  of  the  name  etc.  —  callg  it 
Vassar  high  school  for  Bys  and  one  of  same  for 

*  See  chapter  on  "Reception  of  M.  Vassar's  Plan,"  p.  207. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    113 

girls,  whereas  it  intitld  as  Female  CoUdge  and 
other  articles  requirg  addig  etc  etc"  — This 
is  all  that  bears  on  the  chief  issue  here;  but, 
as  against  Jewett's  memory  that  the  founder 
for  nearly  a  year  did  not  mention  the  college  to 
these  men,  these  two  further  entries  may  be 
subjoined,  "Ap.  23  —  M.  V.  had  Mr.  Renwick 
architect  here  last  week  looking  over  grounds 
Mill  Cove  preparatory  to  buildg  Female 
Collge,"  —  which  is  not  conclusive  evidence, 
—  and,  "Aug.  30  — M.  V.  M.  V.  Jr,  C.  W. 
Swift  and  T.  L.  Davies  out  at  Mill  Cove  look- 
ing at  Lands  of  T.  L.  Davies  and  purchasd  of 
him  66  acres  at  $200  pr  acre  for  addition  to 
present  Lands  M.  V.  for  Female  College,"  — 
which  shows  Jewett's  remembrance  at  fault. 

But  what  of  the  vital  issue?  Was  there  a 
"conspiracy,"  as  Jewett  thought?  Was  the 
founder  ignorant  of  the  intentions  of  his  asso- 
ciates? Two  facts  are  clear:  the  nephews  were 
not  in  sympathy  with  their  uncle's  plan, 
though  later  they  gave  him  a  moderate  cooper- 
ation. They  had  hoped  and  planned  for  a  hos- 
pital, and  had  no  interest  whatever  in  college 
education  for  women.    Jewett,  on  the  other 


114      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

hand,  had  no  confidence  in  them,  and  was  sure 
that  they  were  actively  working  against  his 
scheme  and  attempting  to  deprive  it  of  its 
great  scope  if  they  could  not  destroy  it.  These 
two  antagonistic  interests  may  help  us  to 
interpret  the  facts. 

There  were  discussions  of  modification  of 
Jewett's  accepted  plans  going  on  without  his 
knowledge.  The  entry  in  the  diary  for  Febru- 
ary 7, 1860,  shows  that  these  men  were  consid- 
ering "reducing  the  extent"  of  the  plans. 
Financial  conditions  in  1860  may  have  influ- 
enced that,  and  Jewett's  letter,  quoted  above, 
would  indicate  that  he  knew  the  objection  had 
been  urged  before.  The  entry  in  the  diary  for 
March  9  shows  that  Mr.  Vassar  was  with  his 
nephew  and  counsel  when  papers  were  pre- 
pared incorporating  a  school  for  boys,  one  for 
girls,  and  a  Ubrary.  It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that 
the  entry  for  March  13  speaks  of  this  applica- 
tion as  for  a  charter  for  "Vassar  College." 
Evidently,  when  the  entry  was  made,  the 
nephew  did  not  know  all  the  circumstances 
regarding  the  withdrawal  of  the  bill  and  the 
maihng  of  the  note,  and  assumed  that  the 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    115 

trouble  was  with  the  "phraseology  of  the 
name"  and  other  "discrepancies."  But  why 
the  excitement  of  Mr.  Vassar,  and  his  anger? 
Can  it  be  that  his  mind  was  changed  by  the 
letter  of  that  Sunday;  that  he  had  contem- 
plated cutting  down  the  project  to  the  three 
smaller  undertakings,  thinking  a  "Female 
College"  might  be  made  of  high-school  dimen- 
sions; and  that  Jewett's  letter  inflamed  his  old 
ardor  and  showed  him  clearly  how  the  new  pro- 
ject would  destroy  the  old?  Or  did  he  vacillate? 
He  certainly  discussed  some  modified  scheme 
and  a  charter  for  it,  —  as  this  hitherto  hidden 
diary  and  a  forgotten  newspaper  item  make 
clear.  Jewett's  narrative,  allowing  for  lapses 
of  memory  after  so  many  years,  must  in  all 
fairness  be  accepted  as  to  the  fact  of  the 
founder's  anger  and  his  indignant  withdrawal 
of  the  bill,  —  and  as  to  the  counsel's  under- 
standing that  Mr.  Vassar  had  intended  chang- 
ing his  plan  as  to  building  a  real  college.  Yet 
the  nephew  says  the  bill  was  withdrawn  be- 
cause of  the  phraseology  which  substituted 
"school"  for  "Female  College."  Perhaps  the 
fair  conclusion  is  that  the  founder  had  been 


116      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

persuaded  to  modify  his  plans,  and  had  not 
taken  in  the  full  extent  of  this  till  Mr.  Jewett  so 
forcibly  brought  him  back  to  his  earlier  vision. 
It  was  surely  a  narrow  escape  for  Jewett's 
hard-wrought  plan.  How  large  an  influence 
the  circumstance  had  on  the  subsequent  rela- 
tions of  Jewett  to  the  college  will  be  seen  as  the 
history  progresses. 

The  situation  of  the  college  has  given  rise 
to  perpetual  wonder  as  to  the  failure  of  the 
founder  to  locate  it  by  the  river.  Mr.  Jewett 
tells  us  that  Mr.  Vassar  was  very  anxious  to 
place  it  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  Hud- 
son, and  that  sites  were  examined  north  and 
south  of  the  city.  Everywhere  there  were  the 
fatal  objections  of  a  want  of  a  water-supply 
and  a  lack  of  sufficient  land.  It  did  not  occur 
to  them,  he  tells  us,  that  they  might  purchase 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  the  State  Asylum 
and  raise  the  water  from  the  river.  Mr.  Jewett 
gives  in  his  narrative  another  of  the  papers  he 
from  time  to  time  prepared  for  Mr.  Vassar,  on 
the  "Proper  Location  of  a  College  for  Young 
Ladies."  Questions  of  health,  exercise,  expo- 
sure, social  and  moral  influences,  accessibility. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    117 

reputation  for  salubrity  of  climate  and  health- 
ful conditions,  abundance  of  water,  a  good 
sewage  system,  place  for  vegetable  and  botanic 
gardens,  beauty  of  landscape,  were  all  consid- 
ered. Mill  Cove  farm  was  thought  to  meet 
these  conditions,  and  Mr.  Vassar  made  pur- 
chases there  to  supplement  what  he  already 
owned.  Jewett  suggested  that  his  opponents 
showed  their  faith  in  the  enterprise  by  pur- 
chasing land  in  the  neighborhood  while  the 
project  was  still  a  secret.^  The  work  involved 
had  become  so  great  that  Jewett  gave  up  his 
school  in  the  summer  of  1860  and  gave  all  his 
time  to  Mr.  Vassar's  project,  "my  only  com- 
pensation being  the  consciousness  of  assisting 
in  a  good  work,"  he  says.  He  gives  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  the  time,  written  by  him  to  a 
friend  (September,  1860),  saying  that  he  had 
devoted  all  "his  time  and  thought  to  Vassar 
College,"  visiting  Albany  and  New  York, 
"writing  100  letters,"  and  that  if  it  were  not 
for  his  "presence  and  vigilance"  "Mr.  Vassar's 

*  A  large  farm  owned  by  John  Guy  Vassar,  contiguous  to 
the  college  land,  was  left  by  his  will  to  the  Vassar  Brothers* 
Hospital,  and  was  subsequently  purchased  by  the  college. 


118      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

greedy  relatives  (rich  too)  would  have  defeated 
the  enterprise  long  ago."  He  adds  that  by 
recent  codicils,  suggested  by  him  and  known 
to  no  other,  Mr.  Vassar  has  willed  enough  to 
the  college  to  place  the  undertaking  "beyond 
all  contingency." 

In  a  letter  written  on  Thanksgiving  Day  of 
that  year  (1860),  Mr.  Vassar  makes  abundant 
recognition  of  his  appreciation  of  Jewett's 
interest  in  him  and  his  plans.  He  addresses 
him  as  "My  very  dear  friend";  thanks  him  for 
his  earnest  interest  in  his  temporal  and  his 
spiritual  welfare,  "from  the  very  depths  of  my 
heart,"  — and  especially  for  his  "sincere  and 
ingenuous  friendship."  He  is  "fully  sensible 
that  he  has  lost  friendship  with  many  since  he 
commenced  the  Great  Enterprise";  and  his 
feelings  have  been  deeply  hurt  by  what  he  has 
heard  within  a  week  of  the  attitude  of  "some 
of  the  family  friends  in  consequence  of  what  I 
am  doing."  "But  I  trust  in  God  and  my 
Saviour  to  sustain  me  and  approve  the  work 
of  my  head  and  hands,  the  V.  F.  C.  enterprise: 
and  if  I  lose  this  friendship  I  cannot  now  help 
it.  In  this  enterprise  I  look  higher  than  man." 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    119 

During  1859  and  1860  there  were  discussions 
between  the  two  as  to  the  trustees.  Jewett 
wished  thirteen,  of  whom  eight  should  be 
Baptists,  Mr.  Vassar's  own  denomination. 
He  insisted  that  this  would  not  make  it  sec- 
tarian, as  was  shown  by  Yale,  Harvard,  Wil- 
liams, Union,  as  well  as  Brown  and  Rochester. 
The  founder  wished  the  College  evangelical 
but  unsectarian,^  though  desiring  for  his  own 
connection  the  eclat  of  the  enterprise,  says  the 
narrative.  He  wished  so  many  of  his  business 
friends  and  neighbors  on  the  Board  that  it 
became  necessary,  to  preserve  this  proportion 
desired  by  the  two,  to  increase  the  projected 
Board  to  twenty-nine.  But  no  provision  on 
the  matter  was  placed  in  the  charter. 

The  dra wing-up  of  the  charter  was  also  now 
a  matter  of  deep  solicitude.   Vassar  was  espe- 

*  This  point  is  much  on  the  founder's  mind.  In  a  letter  of 
August  30,  1862,  he  hears  rumors  that  the  pubHc  is  "  disposed 
to  make  the  college  sectarian,"  "current  report  saying  that 
the  board  of  oflBcials  were  all  appointed,  and  from  Baptist 
ranks."  The  President  and  Professor  Fisher  were  the  entire 
faculty  then,  and  the  Board  had  been  named  in  the  charter. 
How  would  Columbia,  Yale,  Harvard,  Princeton,  have  borne 
the  test?  January  15,  1863,  he  writes  Magoon  regarding  the 
advisability  of  instituting  a  chaplaincy  under  different  de- 
nominations.  {Copies,  p.  81.) 


120      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

cially  anxious  to  guard  against  perversion  of 
his  purpose,  and  Jewett  gave  him  the  cold  com- 
fort of  the  experience  of  the  HoUis  professor- 
ship at  Harvard  and  the  Andover  creed.  The 
strongest  guaranty,  he  thought,  would  be  in  a 
close  and  self -perpetuating  corporation.  Now, 
also,  in  the  fall  of  1860,  printed  proposals  for 
the  erection  of  the  building  were  issued,  before 
the  incorporation,  Renwick's  designs  having 
Mr.  Vassar's  approval. 

One  small  item  of  interest  occurs  in  this  con- 
nection. The  road  on  which  the  college  fronts 
does  not  run  exactly  north  and  south.  The 
founder  wished  to  square  the  new  building 
with  the  road,  but  Jewett  persuaded  him  to 
put  it  on  the  points  of  the  compass,  urging  the 
educating  force  of  this.^ 

When  the  Legislature  opened  on  January  1, 

*  In  contrast  with  this,  when  in  1878  the  building  for 
physics  and  chemistry  was  planned,  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  placed  the 
lines  to  suit  himself,  and  could  not  be  persuaded  by  the  pro- 
fessor either  to  set  it  on  the  meridian  line,  or  due  north  and 
south  with  the  lines  of  the  Main  Building,  or  even  with  the 
street.  The  lines  were  even  changed  secretly  by  the  superin- 
tendent, but  the  ruse  was  discovered  by  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  and 
the  building  has  remained  to  nullify  proper  plans  for  the  site 
of  subsequent  edifices.  (Conversations  with  Professor  Cooley 
and  Superintendent  Van  Vliet.) 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    121 

1861,  Mr.  Jewett  was  in  Albany  with  the  pro- 
posed charter,  and  "a  splendid  lithograph  of 
the  proposed  college  edifice  printed  on  a  sheet 
of  four  feet  by  two  and  handsomely  framed  "; 
and  this,  conspicuously  placed,  attracted  uni- 
versal attention.  Mr.  Jewett  also  furnished 
the  reporters  written  statements  regarding 
Mr.  Vassar's  plans  and  his  proposed  gift.  He 
speaks  of  the  "  highest  admiration,"  and  "  great 
enthusiasm"  with  which  the  matter  was  re- 
ceived by  the  public  and  the  Legislature.  One 
must  balance  this,  however,  by  consideration 
of  the  absorbing  interest  at  that  date  in  the 
political  situation.  The  very  Union  was  at 
stake,  and  the  papers  of  that  month  have  small 
space  for  woman's  education  or  Vassar  Female 
College.  The  New  York  "Herald"  of  January 
18,  1861,  in  its  report  of  the  Legislature,  sets 
this  item  in  very  small  print  among  the  dis- 
cussions bearing  on  the  state  of  the  country 
and  the  danger  of  war:  — 

The  House  has  been  at  work  in  earnest  this 
morning  and  has  really  turned  off  considerable 
work.  The  Vassar  Female  College  Bill  passed 
that  body  this  morning  by  a  large  majority,  thus 


122      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

giving  Mr.  Vassar  an  opportunity  of  appropriating 
a  portion  of  his  immense  fortune  in  a  way  that  will 
be  of  some  public  benefit.  It  was  stated  in  a  debate 
to-day  that  he  had  already  set  apart  200  acres  for 
the  college.  This  would  look  as  though  he  contem- 
plated a  grand  Central  Park  and  playground  for 
the  institution  —  all  to  be  kept  up  on  a  magnificent 
scale.  ^ 

Dr.  Jewett  had  assisted  Mr.  Vassar  in  select- 
ing his  counselors,  a  band  of  trustees  of  twenty- 
nine  men.  He  tells  us  that  now,  knowing  it  to 
be  an  essential  step  that  the  money  should 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation,  and 
not  retained  in  the  founder's,  subject  to  the 
intrigues  or  objections  of  "the  enemies  of  the 
college,"  he  undertook  what  he  had  not  dared 
before.  In  his  letter  to  the  Trustees,  inclosing 
a  printed  copy  of  the  charter,  and  calling  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Board,  he  "made  Mr. 
Vassar  say:  *At  which  time  and  place  I  shall 
deliver  into  your  hands  the  funds  I  intend  to 
appropriate  for  this  purpose.'"  He  "repaired 
to  Mr.  Vassar's  office "  for  his  signature  to  the 
letters.  When  Mr.  Vassar  read  the  sentence 
quoted  above,  "he  exclaimed  with  some  sur- 

^  See  chapter  on  "Reception  of  Mr.  Vassar's  Plan,"  for 
further  newspaper  comment. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    123 

prise,  *Why,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  give 
up  my  money  into  the  hands  of  the  Trustees, 
is  it?'"  Mr  Jewett  replied  that  it  was,  of 
course,  in  Mr.  Vassar's  option,  but  it  struck 
him  that  it  would  not  be  courteous  to  ask  these 
gentlemen  to  come  and  help  him  build  the 
college  and  furnish  them  with  no  money  for  the 
purpose.  They  would  always  respect  his  wishes 
and  he  would  still  control  the  funds  through 
them.  "Yes,  I  see,"  said  Mr.  Vassar,  and  signed 
the  letters.  Mr.  Jewett  says  he  sealed  the 
letters  and  *^ran  to  the  post-office,"  fearing 
some  change  of  mind.  We  must  not  forget, 
however,  that  though  this  series  of  events  must 
have  been  deeply  impressed  on  his  memory, 
Mr.  Jewett  had  later  passed  through  troubled 
waters  in  his  relation  to  Mr.  Vassar  and  had 
written  these  impressions  many  years  after 
certain  convictions  as  to  Mr.  Vassar's  "vacil- 
lation" had  hecovae  fixed  in  his  mind.  But  we 
have  no  other  witness  as  to  these  events,  and  the 
writer  was  a  high-minded  man,  still  thankful 
for  his  part  in  the  organization  of  the  college, 
and  without  a  regret  as  to  his  having  left  it.* 

*  See  his  letter  to  Dr.  Raymond,  1873,  quoted  later. 


124      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Mr.  Jewett,  at  the  founder's  request,  now 
prepared  the  programme  for  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Board,  the  necessary  committees,  the 
proper  resolutions,  —  submitting  all  to  Mr. 
Vassar,  —  and  "writing  out  in  full  the  address 
he  should  make  to  the  Trustees."^  The  plan 
for  the  meeting,  and  the  committees,  were 
talked  over  with  the  resident  Trustees,  and  an 
effort  was  made,  and  approved  by  Mr.  Vassar, 
to  reduce  the  Executive  Committee  to  three, 
himseK  and  two  others,  who,  says  Dr.  Jewett, 
had  at  every  point  antagonized  the  plans.  This 
"plot'*  was  defeated  at  the  meeting,  and  the 
Committee  was  increased  by  two  who  were 
"fast  friends  of  the  college."^ 

Mr.  Vassar  "had  an  eye  for  dramatic 
effect,"  and  arranged  the  minutest  details  of 
the  occasion  so  as  to  "invest  the  scene  with 
real  moral  grandeur  and  sublimity,"  and  he 
read  his  address  "with  real  feeling  and  true 
dignity."  Jewett's  narrative  says  "he  had 
copied"  what  he,  Jewett,  had  furnished  him, 

*  Jewett's  manuscript  narrative,  p.  67. 

*  Dr.  Jewett's  "personal  equation"  must  be  borne  in  mind 
here.  These  men  all  gave  steadfast  service  to  the  college. 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    125 

"having  adopted  as  his  own  the  sentiments 
which  had  almost  daily  been  urged  upon  him 
for  the  previous  five  years."  Can  we  now 
determine  the  relative  part  in  it  of  Jewett  and 
Vassar? 

That  the  ideas  were  originally  Dr.  Jewett's, 
there  can  be  Uttle  doubt.  Mr.  Vassar  makes 
ample  acknowledgment  in  the  address  to 
other  sources  for  his  great  idea.  Very  likely 
much  of  the  language  may  be  Jewett's,  modi- 
fied to  suit  the  very  simple  style  of  the  founder, 
—  a  style  well  known  to  us  from  his  "  Com- 
munications'*  to  the  trustees,  which  we  have 
in  printed  form,  and  which  extend  over  years 
beyond  Jewett's  influence.  The  noble  address 
is  in  print,  ^  and  all  who  read  it  must  see  at  a 
glance  that  no  one  unused  to  the  study  of 
education  could  have  expressed  its  ideas,  in 
general  and  in  detail.  Certain  views  here,  how- 
ever, are  undoubtedly  the  founder's.  He  went 
even  beyond  Dr.  Jewett,  in  his  interpretation 
of  "catholicity";  and  his  objections  to  making 
the  college  "a  charity  school"  are  known  to  us 

*  Cf .  Lossing's  Vassar  College  and  its  Founder,  pp.  91  seq.; 
also  Communications  of  the  Founder. 


126      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

from  other  sources,  and  his  recommendations 
as  to  the  use  of  the  funds  may  well  have  been 
quite  as  much  his  own  as  they  certainly  were 
Jewett's.  One  hopes  that  the  golden  words, 
now  printed  in  the  annual  catalogue  of  the 
college,  may  be  Mr.  Vassar's  very  own:  "It 
occurred  to  me  that  woman,  having  received 
from  her  Creator  the  same  intellectual  consti- 
tution as  man,  has  the  same  right  as  man  to 
intellectual  culture  and  development.'** 

M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  was  chosen  Treasurer  of  the 
college,  and  Mr.  Jewett  was  chosen  President 
by  "unanimous  choice,"  says  Lossing,  a 
Trustee.  President  Anderson,  at  the  founder's 
request,  presented  his  name.  Jewett  says  three 
blanks  were  cast,  and  he  attributes  them  to  his 
three  "foes."    The  minutes  of  the  meeting 

^  There  should  be  no  criticism  of  Mr.  Vassar  for  using  all  he 
got  —  and  made  his  own  —  from  those  more  familiar  with 
educational  subjects  than  he  could  be.  He  was  an  uneducated 
man  who  had  trained  himself  by  good  reading  and  simple 
speech,  but  he  was  facing  educators,  clergymen,  lawyers,  men 
of  the  world,  and  naturally  sought  help.  In  August,  1861,  he 
asks  Youmans  for  an  outline  of  an  address  for  the  cornerstone 
laying,  to  which  he  says  he  will  add  his  own  ideas  as  time  may 
permit.  Youmans  sent  it,  and  the  founder  rejected  it  as  un- 
suitable and  "too  elaborate"  and  lacking  in  "pithiness."  He 
objects  to  Youmans's  charge  as  too  large,  as  he  only  asked  an 
outline.  (Letters,  August  31,  September  5,  October  11.) 


INCEPTION  OF  VASSAR*S  PLAN    127 

record  26  as  present.  The  ballot  stood,  23  for 
Jewett,  1  for  Babcock  (Jewett's  vote?),  leaving 
2  unaccounted  for.  Again,  we  must  recall  the 
date  of  this  memoir,  —  eighteen  years  after. 
We  shall  soon  see,  however,  that  the  opposition 
to  Jewett  was  not  imaginary,  though  he  may 
have  forgotten  that  that  did  not  connote 
opposition  to  the  college,  which  was  now  an 
assured  fact,  —  and  a  fact  for  which  he  was 
ultimately  responsible.  He  was  fully  conscious 
of  this,  at  the  time,  as  a  private  letter  of  this 
date,  given  in  his  narrative,  shows,  and  he  was 
equally  sure  that  he  had  attained  his  end 
against  the  opposition  of  the  nephews  and 
despite  the  frequent  swervings  in  his  purpose 
of  Mr.  Vassal  himself,  which  made  the  outcome 
seem  uncertain  to  Jewett  till  after  the  meeting 
of  February  26, 1861.  If  he  was  justified  in  his 
feehng  of  triumph,  it  may  also  be  true  that  he 
underestimated  the  greatness  of  spirit  which 
enabled  this  founder,  self-made  and  self- 
educated,  to  seize  ideas  suggested  to  him,  and 
to  overcome  his  natural  disposition  to  thrifty 
saving  in  a  great  gift  which  took  from  him  at 
one  stroke  half  his  slowly  earned  fortune.  In 


128      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

his  impatience  with  the  founder,  and  especially 
his  indiscreet  expression  of  it  in  this  private 
letter,  Jewett  reveals  the  causes  which  eventu- 
ally unseated  him  and  gave  triumph  to  his 
enemies.  But  this  was  yet  three  years  away. 


IV 

THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF   PRESIDENT  JEWETT 

Ground  was  broken  for  the  new  building 
June  4/  by  the  founder,  in  the  presence  of 
M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  CorneHus  Dubois,  C.  Swan,  the 
Reverend  H.  Malcolm,  and  the  farmer,  work- 
men, and  builders.  "Few  remarks  by  M.  V. 
and  Malcolm  Revd  Mr.  M.  asked  God's  bless- 
ing on  the  undertaking."  2  The  building  went 
steadily  on  through  these  war  years,  and  the 
various  committees  studied  and  reported  on 
plans  for  apparatus,  museum,  library,  etc.* 
A  portrait  of  the  founder,  by  order  of  the 
Trustees,  was  painted  by  Elliott,  and  this  and 
Wright's  portrait  were  exhibited  at  the  Baptist 
Church,  there  being  no  other  place  of  sufficient 

*  Entered  as  June  4,  in  Minutes  of  Joint  Committee;  other- 
wise confirmatory  of  the  diary.  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  enters  in  his 
diary  June  3,  —  probably  a  slip. 

'  Diary  of  M.  Vassar,  Jr.  The  spade  used  is  owned  by  the 
college  and  passed  down  from  class  to  class,  on  Class  Day. 
A  part  of  the  first  spadeful  of  earth  was  placed  in  a  jar  and  is 
in  the  Vassar  Museum. 

>  Diary,  June  25,  1862. 


130      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

size.  The  first  story  of  the  college  was  up  when, 
November  5/  the  walls  were  covered  for  the 
winter  —  "all  cleanly  completed  etc."  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  Vassar  prophesied 
then  that,  with  the  vast  expenditure  of  the 
Government  for  the  war,  money  would  run 
down  to  four  per  cent,  as  *'no  place  or  business 
actively  to  invest"  occurs;  that  bank  stock 
will  be  poor;  and  that  New  York  Central  will 
go  to  par  within  the  year;  and  proposes  invest- 
ments in  "1st  mortgage  Bonds  Erie  Hudson 
River  and  Harlem  —  says  will  pay  the  oyster 
supper  to  the  committee  if  it  does  not  prove 
tme."2 

After  one  year  of  extensive  correspondence 
and  visits  to  schools  and  colleges,  and  partici- 
pation in  constant  discussions  of  details  of 
construction  and  plans  for  a  course  of  study, 
Mr.  Jewett  met  the  Board  (February,  1862) 
with  the  suggestion  that  he  go  abroad  to  study 
systems  of  female  education  prevailing  in  the 
most  enlightened  countries  of  Europe,  and 
"with  the  view  of  otherwise  advancing  the 
interests  of  the  college,"  and  of  reporting  his 
1  Diary.  «  Diary,  January  27,  1862. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    131 

conclusions  to  the  Board.  Jewett  himself  says 
that  he  was  aware  that  there  was  little  to  learn 
in  Europe  for  this  new  cause,  but  that  Mr. 
Vassar  originated  the  idea,  with  the  desire  to 
have  Jewett  visit  the  birthplace  of  the  founder, 
obtain  photographs  and  gather  the  traditions 
of  "the  patriarchs  of  the  village,'*  and  with  the 
thought  also  that  the  mission  would  lend  eclat 
to  the  new  college.^ 

M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  regarded  this  mission  in 
another  light.  His  entry  for  February  25, 1862, 
recording  the  meeting,  —  and  mentioning  the 
appointment  of  a  professor  of  chemistry,  Mr. 
R.  A.  Fisher,  and  a  proposition  to  loan  him 
$1000  "for  travelling  in  Europe  to  improve 
himself"  and  examine  new  "Laboratorys  and 
chemical  apparatus  etc.,"^  adds:  — 

Mr.  Jewett  also  asked  permission  to  visit  Europe 
for  obtaining  information  in  any  new  schools  and 
considered  would  be  acquisition  to  him  and  college 
—  also  that  his  salary  may  be  continued  $2000  pr 
annum  —  to  be  absent  to  June  1863  —  M.  V.  Jr. 
opposed  it  on  the  ground  that  his  services  requird 

*  He  gave  to  Jewett  a  letter  to  his  relatives  —  Letter  of 
March  15,  1862. 

'  Minutes  of  meeting  of  Trustees,  also  February,  1862. 


132      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

at  home  in  reply  to  letters  from  sundry  institutions 
—  applications  for  office  and  students  also  large 
number  coming  to  the  city  on  college  information 
sight  seeing  etc  and  his  absence  it  would  fall  or 
devolve  on  M.  V.  who  ought  not  and  cannot  have 
his  mind  more  taxed  than  at  present  —  C.  W. 
Swift  obliged  to  leave  meeting  on  */c  business  left 
his  written  protest  to  above  —  and  the  only  two 
who  opposed  it,  M.  V.  the  donor  having  spoken  in 
favour  it  —  none  other  of  the  board  said  ought 
against  and  was  carried  without  oppositions. 
Swift  nor  M.  V.  Jr  saying  ought  further  about  same 
(Jewett's  persuasiveness  and  flattery  to  M.  V. 
sways  him  as  I  judge  little,  too  much  of  the  Yankee 
palavar  or  Jesuitical  principle)  as  no  attention  is 
given  to  the  great  instruction  of  young  Ladies  in 
Europe  —  I  cannot  see  that  any  benefit  to  be 
granted  or  received  in  his  visit  —  this  country 
is  far  in  advance  anything  in  Europe  in  Female 
Education. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  feelings  toward 
M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  and  his  closest  advisers,  ex- 
pressed by  Mr.  Jewett,  are  amply  reciprocated 
by  these  gentlemen,  —  though  for  the  time 
they  were  veiled  in  private  letters  and  a  secret 
diary.  They  were,  however,  working  toward 
effective  utterance. 

Mr.  Jewett  was  absent  eight  months.    He 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    133 

had  his  salary  of  $2000,  but  no  allowance  for 
expenses.^  He  tells  us  that,  though  he  was  not 
able  to  secure  material  "for  such  a  general  and 
statistical  report  as  was  contemplated,"  "yet 
his  mission  was  not  without  valuable  results.'* 
That  must  have  been  true,  though  the  printed 
report  of  this  visit  does  not  impress  the  reader 
as  either  profound  or  particularly  enlightening. 
It  shows  careful  study  of  the  schools,  which 
had,  however,  small  results  to  suggest  for  a 
woman's  college,  —  indicates  the  high  position 
of  religious  training,  emphasizes  some  of  the 
methods  of  instruction,  the  attention  to  domes- 
tic economy,  to  exercise  and  health,  the  restric- 
tions as  to  dress,  the  simplicity  of  diet,  the 
prominence  of  the  "  accompHshments,"  and  of 
the  study  of  modern  languages.  The  President 
learned  much,  however,  from  obvious  defects, 
and  he  was,  be  it  remembered,  an  observer  of 
long  and  varied  experience.  "His  own  view," 
as  he  states  in  his  manuscript,  is  given  "in  the 
last  paragraph  of  the  published  report  which 
he  presented  to  the  Trustees,"  and  which  he 
there  copies.  He  recites  his  visits  to  the  great 
^  Minutes  of  Board,  February,  1862. 


134      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

libraries,  his  study  of  their  systems  of  shelving, 
cataloguing,  etc.;  visits  to  the  great  art  gal- 
leries, with  like  practical  object;  to  the  great 
exhibition  of  "philosophical  apparatus,"  then 
in  London;  to  the  telescope  manufactory  of 
the  Frauenhofers;  the  collections  of  the  muse- 
ums of  natural  history  with  observations  on 
the  mounting  and  exhibit  of  specimens;  the 
study  of  all  he  can  see  of  educational  methods; 
the  latest  and  most  approved  school  buildings 
for  girls.  He  added,  with  great  truth,  that  the 
most  important  results  could  not  be  "  imprinted 
on  pajjer,*'  but  would  be  felt  in  future  years  in 
chapel,  classrooms,  and  lecture  halls,  in  library, 
cabinets,  and  art  gallery.  His  impressions 
would  be  "transferred  by  a  spiritual  photog- 
raphy" to  "the  minds  and  hearts  and  lives" 
of  the  hundreds  the  college  would  send  forth. 
His  estimate  is  juster  than  that  of  his  oppo- 
nent, Matthew  Vassar,  Jr.  The  "report  was 
lengthy  and  much  of  the  same  to  the  point  in 
reference  to  Education  of  Females  or  Women 
in  Europe,  but  on  the  whole  too  much  and 
irksome."^  Mr.  Swift  moved  a  compHmentary 
1  Diary,  June  30,  1863. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    135 

resolution  and  proposed  filing  the  report  in 
the  archives,^  but  though  M.  Vassar,  Jr., 
seconded  the  same,  several  at  once  arose  and 
requested  that  the  document  be  printed,  — 
and  this  was  done.^ 

Jewett  was  now  busy  in  preparing  his  scheme 
for  the  educational  work  of  the  college  and 
in  securing  candidates  for  its  faculty.  Jewett 
says,  and  very  naturally  and  probably,  that 
the  work  fell  on  him,  as  the  "distinguished 
gentlemen"  of  his  Committee  were  too  closely 
absorbed  in  their  own  business  to  assist  him 
"except  by  their  invaluable  suggestions  and 
counsels."  These  men  were  Presidents  An- 
derson and  Robinson,  Nathan  Bishop,  John 
H.  Raymond,  Rufus  Babcock.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  however,  that  Jewett's  processes 
were  already  too  rapid  for  some  of  his  col- 
leagues. M.  Vassar,  Jr.'s,  diary  tells  us,  under 
date  of  June  30,  1863,  when  Jewett's  report  on 
his  tour  was  presented,  that  Jewett's  "inten- 
tion was  appointment  of  some  Professors  but 
was  voted  down  as  premature  the  meeting  was 

1  Minutes  of  Board,  June,  1863. 
'  Jewett's  manuscript  narrative. 


136      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

harmonious,"  etc.  This  is  confirmed  by  a  let- 
ter of  Nathan  Bishop,  dated  June  23,  1863, 
in  which  he  protests  to  Dr.  Jewett  that  no 
opportunity  has  been  given  them  to  investigate 
fully  the  claims  of  his  candidates  (Farrar  and 
Tenney) ;  that  private  letters  from  friends  are 
more  reliable  than  general  testimonials;  but 
that  if  the  Committee  wishes  to  indorse  the 
action,  he  will  not  stand  in  the  way,  but  will 
ask  to  be  transferred  to  some  other  committee. 
This  is  from  the  man  to  whom  in  the  later  trou- 
bles Jewett  refers  as  his  Fidus  Achates.  A  few 
months  later,  December  15,  1863,  M.  Vassar, 
Jr.,  records  in  his  diary,  "this  day  of  the  Ex 
Committee  —  some  sharp-shooting  by  chair- 
man M.  V.  against  President  J for  Bill 

presented  as  expenses  on  Faculty,  —  going 
N.  Y.  enquiry  for  some  Teachers  without  con- 
sultation and  without  any  use  at  present  —  J. 
has  apologized  and  sees  error  —  making  such 
charge  of  expense  some  $20  —  while  is  Receiv- 
ing his  $2000  per  year  salary  etc." 

We  shall  see  shortly  that  another  factor,  not 
generally  known,  but  probably  temporarily 
very  potent,  was  at  work  in  the  direction  of 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    137 

undermining  Jewett*s  influence,  and  that  so 
far  as  we  know,  Jewett  himseK  was  unaware 
of  it.  Before  facing  that,  however,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  set  forth  the  striking  scheme  which 
Jewett  formulated  and  reported  and  which 
was  printed  by  the  Board,  and  submitted  '*  to 
the  press  and  to  the  leading  educators  of  the 
country."^  So  far  as  our  Northern  colleges  are 
concerned,  it  was  in  plan  a  new  departure, 
suggested  evidently  by  Dr.  Jewett's  long 
Southern  experience  and  his  familiarity  with 
the  working  of  such  schemes  in  Southern  col- 
leges, though  he  attributes  it  to  Europe  and 
calls  it  the  university  system.  It  is  rather 
remarkable  that  it  was  reported  favorably  to 
the  Board  by  a  committee  which  included  such 
experienced  Northern  educators  as  Anderson, 
Robinson,  Raymond  (the  future  President), 
and  Bishop.  It  speaks  well  for  their  largeness 
of  mind  and  their  willingness  to  allow  the  Pres- 
ident a  free  hand  in  the  new  field.  Though  the 
scheme  was  never  tried,  owing  to  Jewett *s 
resignation,  it  is  worthy  of  examination  here 

*  Jewett  had  it  copied  out  in  his  manuscript,  —  41  pp.  of 
legal  cap. 


138      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

as  the  plan  approved  by  himself  and  the 
founder  for  the  new  college,  and  especially  as 
he  claims  that  it  influenced  all  the  following 
changes,  and  that  through  thirteen  years  the 
tendency  was  toward  its  abandoned  provi- 
sions.* The  founder  himself  "heartily  ap- 
proves "of  it  in  his  address  to  the  Trustees,^ 
and  states  that  his  attention  had  been  called 
to  it  in  1862  by  a  "gentleman  quite  familiar 
with  not  only  the  theory,  but  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, with  the  practise  of  that  system,  so  that 
when  our  President  returned  from  Europe 
I  was  already  prepared  to  advocate  and  urge 
its  introduction  here."  He  adds  that  he  does 
not  regard  the  system  as  a  novelty,  even  in 
this  country,  and  finds  no  reason  why  it  should 
not  work  with  women  as  it  has  with  men.  This 
again  brings  into  view  the  influence,  nowhere 
else  referred  to  in  print,  which  was  steadily 
undermining  Jewett,  —  though  apparently  he 
was  unconscious  of  it.  It  may  bear  on  Jewett's 
originahty  in  his  suggestion  of  the  scheme. 
The  plan  was,  in  short,  as  Jewett  calls  it,  a 

1  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  126. 
*  Communications,  February,  1864. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    139 

university  scheme,  as  practiced  in  Southern 
colleges  and  even  seminaries.  Nevertheless, 
the  document,  as  a  scheme  for  a  great  woman's 
college,  was  a  daring  novelty.  It  plainly  de- 
fined a  college  as  distinct  from  a  seminary  or 
academy  in  its  breadth  and  depth  and  per- 
manency; called  for  a  course  of  study  of  the 
highest  grade,  and  liberal  beyond  any  then  in 
vogue;  sketched  the  subjects  that  must  be 
comprised  in  it;  demanded  reform  of  all  present 
methods;  questioned  the  procrustean  four 
years'  course;  introduced  a  broad  election  of 
studies  on  a  group  system;  challenged  current 
education  for  the  lack  of  it,  for  low  standards, 
for  want  of  incentive  and  tests;  and  proposed 
classification  of  knowledge  and  study  by  sub- 
jects. There  would  be  a  series  of  schools;  thus, 
of  languages,  of  mathematics,  history  and  po- 
litical economy,  etc.,  and  elections  among 
them.  Teaching  would  be  without  textbooks, 
and  the  examinations  would  be  written,  and 
'the  completion  of  a  definite  number  of  schools 
would  entitle  the  student  to  a  diploma  and  to 
the  degree  of  the  college,  M.A.^ 

*  As  at  the  University  of  Virginia. 


140      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

The  objections,  familiar  to  all  who  have  dis- 
cussed elective  systems,  are  duly  considered, 
and  the  advantages  urged.  Nine  schools  are 
suggested,  and  a  call  made  for  the  full  number 
of  professors  and  teachers.  He  seems  to  think 
seven  professors  and  from  six  to  ten  teachers 
could  carry  the  work,  but  the  accompanying 
resolution  suggests  nine  heads.  He  sketches 
ably  the  kind  of  men  needed  in  a  woman's  col- 
lege, and  sets  a  high  standard  of  scholarship 
and  efficiency.  The  founder,  in  his  address  at 
the  meeting  of  February,  1864,  in  relation  to 
this,  says  that  so  large  a  number  of  men  at  the 
start  will  drain  the  resources  of  the  college, 
and  urges  eloquently  the  claims  of  women,  in- 
stancing Maria  Mitchell,  and  in  art,  Emma 
Church.^  He  says,  however,  that  he  does  not 
urge  woman's  claims  from  economical  reasons. 
"We  must  pay  fairly  and  even  generously, 
whatsoever  instruments  we  use."^ 

1  He  had  purchased  several  copies  of  "  old  masters  "  from 
her  —  for  the  college  art  gallery. 

'  He  writes  Henry  Barnard,  February  2,  1864,  that  some 
wish  to  begin  with  female  professors  and  teachers  only.  To 
Charles  A.  Raymond,  February  6, 1864,  he  says  his  own  idea 
is  "women  to  educate  her  sex."  {Copies,  p.  90.) 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    141 

Very  striking,  too,  is  Jewett*s  insistence  on 
a  good  library,  the  best  apparatus,  a  good  art 
gallery,  and  large  endowments.  Nor  does  the 
report  neglect  the  non-academic  needs,  —  the 
demand  for  full  provision  for  a  refined  domes- 
tic life,  for  nurse,  kitchen,  matron,  janitor's 
department.  He  discusses  even  the  rates, 
which  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  put  as  low  as 
$200  per  year,  —  the  arts  being  extras. 

The  standards  set  were  not  high,  and  con- 
templated entering  young  girls  for  the  "junior 
class  of  any  school "  on  a  very  low  requirement, 
but  the  completion  of  the  school  contemplated 
a  worthy  course  of  study;  and,  unlike  that  of 
most  previous  efforts  in  "female  education," 
here  was  a  real  curriculum. 

At  this  point  we  recur  to  another  influence 
that  had  great  weight  with  Mr.  Vassar,  and 
which  has  already  been  referred  to.  Save  for 
the  single  reference  to  this  man  just  quoted 
from  the  founder's  "Communications  to  the 
Trustees"  there  is  apparently  no  mention  of 
him.  Where  almost  all  letters  of  the  time  have 
disappeared,  fourteen  long  and  very  closely 
written  ones  from  him  to  the  founder  are  pre- 


142      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

served,  and  near  a  score  more  addressed  to  Mr. 
Cyrus  Swan,  Mr.  Vassar's  near  friend  and 
adviser.  These  letters  discuss  all  that  concerns 
the  college,  the  plan  of  education,  appoint- 
ments and  pay  of  a  faculty,  buildings,  plans 
for  art  gallery  and  museum,  and  all  with  the 
assumption  that  the  writer  is  an  expert  beyond 
all  others  in  "female  education."  That  they 
finally  had  great  weight  in  determining  Jew- 
ett*s  relation  to  Mr.  Vassar  and  the  college, 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  yet  in  all  we  have 
from  Jewett  there  is  no  reference  to  him. 

Charles  A.  Raymond  had  been  a  teacher  in 
the  South.  Like  Jewett,  he  was  a  Northerner, 
apparently  resident  in  New  Haven,  where  his 
mother  was  still  living  in  1864  (when  these 
letters  cease).  He  had  studied,  but  not  gradu- 
ated, at  Yale,  and  had  been  in  the  Yale  Theo- 
logical School.  He  lived  fifteen  years  in  the 
South,  1  and  was  finally  connected  with  the 
Chesapeake  Female  College  of  Virginia.  He 
says  he  was  fourteen  years  in  the  cotton- 
growing  States.  2    In   1847    he  was  in  New 

1  Letter  of  December  29,  1862. 

2  He  has  articles  in  Harper's  Magazine,  September,  October, 
and  November,  1863. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    143 

Orleans,  and  several  years  he  spent  in  South 
Carolina.  He  was  an  incorporator  of  the 
Chesapeake  Female  College  in  1860,  and  Presi- 
dent. Driven  North  by  the  war,  he  opened 
a  school  in  Newburgh,  whose  "insignificance 
frets"  him,  a  "parlor  school."^  He  preached 
one  summer  in  Poughkeepsie,  his  ancestral 
home  and  the  burial-place  of  his  forbears,  ^  and 
became  acquainted  thus  with  Mr.  Vassar  and 
talked  much  with  him  over  his  project.^    He 

1  Letter  of  August  9,  1862. 

2  Letter  to  Swan,  April  8,  1864. 

'  On  Charles  A.  Raymond,  letters  from  friends  in  Virginia 
to  the  author;  letter  from  Paymaster-General's  oflSce,  Board 
of  Education  of  Virginia,  etc.  "He  was  distinguished  in 
appearance,  gracious  in  manner,  and  always  well  dressed." 
Chesapeake  Female  College  occupied  the  site  of  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  Hampton.  The  original  building  has  only  recently 
(1912)  been  torn  down.  Raymond  was  President  little  more 
than  a  year,  if  he  left  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  cur- 
riculum of  the  college  was  sent  the  author  by  Miss  Jane  E. 
Davis,  editor  of  the  Southern  Workman,  and  was  furnished 
her  by  President  Tyler,  of  William  and  Mary.  It  may  well 
be  offered  here  as  typical  of  Southern  women's  colleges  in 
1860. 

Chesapeake  Female  College  —  Curriculum 

Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy:  Watts,  Treatise  on  the 
Mind;  Abercrombie,  Intellectual  Philosophy; 
Abercrombie,  Moral  Philosophy. 

History:  Goodrich,  History  of  the  United  States;  Good- 

rich, History  of  England;  Goodrich,  History  of 
France;  Goodrich,  Ancient  History;  Taylor, 
Universal  History. 


144      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

became  principal  then  of  the  Hamilton  Female 
Institute,  and  later,  in  September,  1863,  be- 

Geography:  Mitchell,  School  Geography;  Mitchell,  Geo- 
graphical Reader. 

Grammar:        Smith,  New  English  Reader. 

Reading:  Russell,    Young   Ladies'   Reader;   Worcester, 

3d  Book;  The  British  Poets. 

Mathematics:  Emerson,  First  Part;  Colburn,  First  Lessons; 
Colburn,  Sequel;  Davies'  First  Lessons,  Alge- 
bra; Da  vies'  Legendre,  Geometry;  Davies' 
Bourdon,  Algebra;  Davies'  Trigonometry. 

Natural  Sciences:  Olmstead,  Natural  Philosophy;  Draper, 
Chemistry. 

Latin:  Gould's  Adams,  Grammar;  L'Homond,  Epi- 

tome Histoire  Sacre;  Zumpt  and  Schmidt, 
Csesar;  Zumpt  and  Schmidt,  Virgil;  Zumpt 
and  Schmidt,  Cicero;  Zumpt  and  Schmidt, 
Horace;  Folsom,  Livy;  Leverett,  Dictionary. 

French:  Addick,  Elements;  Gerard,  Course  (Grammar); 

Bibliotheque  de  I'Enfance;  St.-Pierre,  Paul  et 
Virginie;  Mme.  Guizot,  Pauvre  Jose;  Voltaire, 
Charles  XII;  Saintine,  Picciola;  Bossuet,  Dis- 
cours  sur  I'Histoire  universelle;  Mme.  Sevign6, 
Lettres;  Noel  et  Chapsal,  Grammaire;  Lafon- 
taine, Fables;  Corneille, Chefs  d'CEuvre;  Racine, 
Chefs  d'CEuvre;  Chapsal,  Cours  de  Litterature 
Frangaise;  Lamartine,  Meditations  p6etiques; 
Victor  Hugo,  Odes  et  Ballades;  Several  Dramas 
from  the  most  distinguished  modern  writers. 

German:  FoUen,    German    Grammar;    Follen,    German 

Reader;  Schiller,  Die  Jungfrau  von  Orleans; 
Goethe,  Torquato  Tasso;  Schiller,  Don  Karlos; 
Goethe,  Egmont;  Wieland,  Oberon;  Lessing, 
Laocoon. 

For  Spanish  and  Italian,  the  most  approved  Text  Books  are 

used. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    145 

came  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Paymaster- 
General.  He  resigned  in  July,  1864,  to  take  a 
hospital  chaplaincy  in  the  army,  and  he  was 
honorably  mustered  out  in  October,  1866. 
From  a  letter  of  Mr.  Vassar's^  we  learn  that 
Raymond  had  already  made  "valued  sugges- 
tions" to  him  regarding  the  college  and  these 
had  commended  themselves  to  him.  Evidently 
Raymond  had  already  suggested  himself  as  a 
Vice-President,  for  Mr.  Vassar  tells  him  that 
he  hopes  the  discussion  of  this  or  any  other 
matter  concerning  the  college  may  be  had 
"without  partiality  or  private  considerations." 
He  has  no  thought,  he  assures  him,  that  Ray- 
mond has  any  personal  motive,  but  adds  that 
"candor  impels"  him  to  acknowledge  that  if 
it  were  consistent  for  the  college  to  give  him 
that  office  he  knows  of  no  man  who  could  fill 
it  better.  He  has  written  "Professor  Jewett," 
who  was  in  Europe^  on  the  matter,  and  it  will 
remain  open  till  his  return,  when  he  will  take 
it  up  with  "enlarged  earnest."  He  favors 
Raymond's  "  appointment  to  that  department 
in  the  college"  because  it  is  Raymond's  sug- 
1  July  28,  1862;  in  Copies,  p.  42,  it  is  July  30. 


146      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

gestion  ("first  came  from  you")  and  because 
his  "large  experience  in  female  education 
entitles"  his  "judgment  to  consideration  of 
more  than  ordinary  respect."  He  refers  to  his 
"experience  of  eighteen  years'  devotion  to  the 
profession  of  teaching."  "  You  have  talents  and 
the  college  has  money,"  "beside  the  college 
have  grounds,"  —  and  on  them  should  erect 
residences  for  professors  as  Raymond  has  sug- 
gested. Here  is  a  new  note !  Jewett  had  sugges- 
ted the  family  idea,  —  residence  in  the  build- 
ing, —  which  was  adopted,  but  in  his  absence 
here  was  an  influence,  at  once  very  potent, 
which  was  swaying  the  founder's  mind  in  direc- 
tions that  might  promote  friction  and  trouble. 
Raymond  at  once  suggested  to  him  the 
"university  system,"  which  we  have  already 
outhned  as  from  Jewett's  report,  a  year  later. 
He  says  Jewett  agrees  with  him  in  sentiment, 
and  will  see  it  in  operation  in  Europe  and  learn 
how  it  can  be  applied  to  girls.  Already  in  use 
in  the  University  of  Virginia,  Raymond  had 
himself  used  it  in  his  "college."  This  would 
put  Vassar  above  competition,  but  they  must 
keep  quiet  lest  some  one  steal  "our  thunder." 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    147 

Let  it  be  marked  here  that  Jewett,  for  many- 
years  the  head  of  the  most  flourishing  of  the 
girls'  schools  of  the  South,  ^  and  a  trained 
student  of  education,  could  hardly  have  owed 
to  Raymond  his  first  knowledge  of  this  system 
so  well-known  in  the  South.  ^  It  may  be  easily 
true  that  Mr.  Vassar  first  heard  of  the  system 
from  Raymond.  It  is  interesting  also  to  dis- 
cover thus  early  a  certain  guarded  animus 
toward  the  absent  President.  Raymond 
thanks  Mr.  Vassar  for  his  good  opinion,  even  if 
he  cannot  '^flatter  as  well  as  our  good  friend  the 
Doctor."  Jewett  had  been  made  an  LL.D.  by 
Rochester  in  1861.  As  the  correspondence  pro- 
ceeds, Jewett  is  treated  with  less  consideration. 
Raymond's  suggestions  cover  a  wide  field. 
He  could  canvass  the  field,  preaching,  intro- 
ducing himself,  on  behalf  of  the  college,  to  the 
public,  visiting,  meeting  parents,  etc.,  while 
the  founder  and  the  President  were  attending 
to  important  matters  at  home.'  He  ingratiates 

^  But  the  President  of  Judson  College  says,  December  11, 
1912,  Jewett  did  not  use  the  system  there. 

*  Cf.  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  of 
Virginia,  December  18,  1912. 

»  Letter,  August  9,  1862. 


148      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

himself  with  the  founder,  —  is  grateful  for  his 
financial  encouragement  in  the  enterprise  at 
Hamilton,^  but  has  chiefly  on  his  mind,  always, 
such  a  plan  for  Vassar  College  as  shall  bring 
out  the  founder's  sagacity  and  goodness  and 
glory.  He  meets  the  financial  depression  with 
a  plan  to  save  the  endowing  of  professorships, 
though  fearing  he  may  run  counter  to  "brother 
Jewett*s  ideas."  Teachers  will  do  better  if 
dependent  in  large  measure  on  their  success 
and  the  amount  of  their  work  for  their  support. 
"The  best  of  men  need  an  incentive,"  and 
there  is  nothing  "like  self-interest"  for  that. 
Building,  grounds,  repairs,  furniture,  renewal 
of  Hbrary  and  apparatus,  he  would  endow,  — 
and  a  fund  to  educate  talented  poor  girls,  but 
not  professorships,  —  and  to  this  he  returns 
again  and  again.  "Right  men  would  pay 
themselves";  and  to  Mr.  Vassar *s  objection 
that  thus  they  might  get  too  much,  he  replies 
that  if  they  take  their  own  risks  they  should 
have  what  they  can  make.^  He  claims  that 
the   professors    at    Madison    (now    Colgate) 

»  Letters,  August  13,  28,  September  12,  22,  1862. 
*  September  22,  and  November  25,  1862.   Cf.  M.  Vassar's 
letter,  October  2, 1862  (p.  50  of  Copies). 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    149 

University  approve  his  plan.^  He  discusses 
details  in  reply  to  Mr.  Vassar's  suggestions,  ^ 
they  having  agreed  to  "set  aside"  "the  endow- 
ment of  professorships."  The  founder  does 
not  like  "the  teachers'  partnership  system." 
Then  make  the  college  the  chief  sharer  in  the 
profits,  but  for  the  benefit  of  teachers,  says 
Raymond,  a  sort  of  accruing  insurance  fund, 
the  founder  to  guarantee  against  deficits  till  the 
fund  is  accumulated.^ 

A  new  idea  is  broached  in  his  letter  of 
February  24, 1863,  —  one  calculated  to  appeal 
to  a  thrifty,  self-made  man,  though  in  this  case 
happily  ineffective.  There  must  be  an  art 
gallery.  A  large  expenditure,  however,  would 
be  fooHsh.  Buy  a  few  pictures.  Get  a  good 
painter  as  professor  of  art;  engage  all  his  time; 
let  him  paint  pictures  for  the  gallery.  In  the 
course  of  years  there  would  be  a  fine  collection. 
And  so  with  a  museum.  Let  the  professor  col- 
lect, stuff  birds,  etc.,  make  exchanges;  gradu- 
ally build  up  a  worthy  museum.   Happily  the 

1  Letter,  December  29.  The  founder  assents  to  the  plan  in 
letter  of  October  2. 

2  Letter,  October  25, 1862.     ^  Letter,  February  6, 1863. 


150      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

fine  art  gallery  and  museum  of  the  college  were 
gained  by  other  advice  and  by  the  founder's 
generous  provision.  He  refers  now  to  his  "very 
huge  correspondence  with  Mr.  Jewett."  Ray- 
mond is  a  prolific  writer,  —  his  letters  are  very 
long,  full  of  interest,  clever  in  expression,  and 
in  a  fine  and  cultivated  hand. 

He  is  especially  antagonistic  to  the  applica- 
tion of  American  college  ideals  to  the  education 
of  girls.  He  finds  an  absurd  excess  in  mathe- 
matics at  Hamilton,  for  example.^  No  system 
that  calls  for  four  years  at  college,  that  de- 
mands a  like  age  with  boys,  or  expects  such  a 
system  as  has  been  worked  out  for  them,  can 
succeed.  By  March,  1863,  he  is  discussing  this 
with  Jewett.  They  are  "butting  their  heads 
together  in  the  dark,"  Jewett  not  getting  his 
ideas  very  clearly  and  Raymond  "wholly  igno- 
rant of  his."  Was  Jewett  already  suspicious  of 
this  interest,  — real,  sincere,  we  must  believe,  — - 
but  also  sinister.'^  He  had  proposed  some  kind 
of  cooperation:  if  his  time  and  advice  were 
valuable,  the  college  could  afford  to  pay  for  it. 
This  brought  out  their  differences  so  distinctly 

1  Letter,  December  12,  1862. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    151 

as  to  make  his  "anxieties  and  writings  in  the 
college  behalf  appear  simply  ridiculous."  And 
then  he  outlines  their  two  plans  to  let  Mr. 
Vassar  "amuse  yourself  by  comparison."  He 
knew  his  views  and  Mr.  Vassar's  harmonized 
and  he  was  trying  "to  work  them  into  grand 
embodiment."  Jewett  seemed  to  have  in  mind 
only  another  big  school  on  the  stereotyped 
plan,  like  Crittenden's  (the  Packer  Institute), 
Abbott's  (Spingler),  only  bigger.  "It  is  what 
any  man,  who  had  no  special  object  to  accom- 
plish, would  do."  Raymond  would  give  the 
founder  the  honor  of  a  radical  reform.  No 
teacher  should  be  elected  but  to  carry  out  his 
wishes.  "Jewett  does  not  believe  in  binding 
future  generations."  "I  tell  you  you  can't  be 
too  safe."  He  had  been  working  for  something 
alive,  and  it  is  proving  to  be  an  abortion. 
Jewett's  plan  cannot  do  anything  for  the  mem- 
ory of  the  founder  unless  to  "build  the  biggest 
building  for  school  purposes  in  the  country." 
Jewett's  plan  will  bring  anarchy  and  confusion. 
"I  am  not  certain  Mr.  Jewett  is  up  to  the 
demands  of  the  crisis."  He  urges  the  founder 
to  decision  before  the  June  meeting,  when  mat- 


152      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

tersmaybe  beyond  his  reach.  ^  He  asks  if  he 
wishes  to  have  his  endowment  go  for  "no 
special  purpose"  "excepting  that  Mr.  Jewett 
prevailed  on  you  to  do  it,"  or  will  he  show 
himself  intelligent,  wise,  sagacious  .^^  Who 
opened  to  him  the  whole  scheme  while  Jewett 
was  in  Europe?  He  "did  all  that,"  convincing 
Jewett,  working  out  details  for  Mr.  Vassar*s 
reputation,  not  for  Jewett's.  The  founder  must 
assume  the  credit.  He  had  only  needed  some 
one  to  shape  up  his  ideas,  and  what  Jewett 
could  not  do,  he,  Raymond,  had  done.  And 
now  he  is  willing  to  help  him  prepare  his 
address  to  the  Trustees! 

This  letter  is  indorsed  by  the  founder,  "not 
answered** \  Was  he  becoming  suspicious  of 
the  claims  of  Raymond,  or  were  his  eyes  open 
now  to  the  fact  that  Jewett  did  know  some- 
thing of  his  problem,  and  had  not  gained  all 
his  ideas  from  Raymond,  as  the  latter  in  sub- 
sequent letters'^  claimed  he  had,  saying  Jewett 
had  "sucked  him  dry"  and  cast  him  off?  Or 
did  he  see  the  impractical  nature  of  many  of  his 
correspondent's  suggestions? 

»  Letter,  May  24, 1863.  *  Letter  to  Swan. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    153 

The  next  day,^  Raymond  sends  another  let- 
ter, also  indorsed  "not  answered.'*  It  exhorts 
the  founder  to  assert  himself.  He  is  prepared 
to  submit  a  plan  for  selection  of  professors 
and  to  secure  the  college  against  contemptible 
scheming.  He  would  simply  drop  all  the  men 
engaged  and  select  "an  entirely  new  set  of 
young  men"  "presented  by  you  as  your 
choice."  The  selfish  plotting  of  Trustees  must 
be  stopped.  The  will  of  the  founder  must  be 
supreme.  "Shall  I  say  more?"  he  adds.  A 
reply  was  written  June  5, 1863,  by  Mr.  Vassar.* 
It  relates  Vassar's  visit  to  Dr.  Willard  Parker, 
an  order  for  rest  as  essential,  and  the  necessary 
withdrawal  from  these  perplexing  questions  of 
organization,  etc.  He  has  chosen  a  President 
"in  whom  I  have  unshaken  confidence,"  and 
he  throws  "  the  great  responsibility  cheerfully  " 
on  him.  He  thanks  Raymond  for  his  counsel, 
but  he  must  withdraw  from  these  things.  He 
sends  him,  by  way  of  acknowledgment,  a  note 
of  Raymond's  he  holds  for  $262  and  interest. 
How  badly  and  with  what  ill  temper  Raymond 

1  Letter,  May  25,  1863. 

*  Copied  by  Mr.  Schou  and  signed  by  him  for  Mr.  Vassar 
(Letter  Book,  p.  68). 


154      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

received  this  is  shown  in  his  manner  of  address 
of  a  letter  of  August  13,  1863,  no  longer  begin- 
ning "  Dear  Friend,"  but  "  Dear  Sir,"  and  he  is 
*'Very  respectfully"  instead  of  his  habitual 
"Very  truly."  He  accepts  an  "enclosure," 
but  only  temporarily  and  "  from  force  of  circum- 
stances." Jewett  had  grossly  insulted  him,  he 
says,  and  so  he  was  "not  surprised  at  its  tone" 
(the  letter  of  Mr.  Vassar).  Jewett  had  pledged 
himself  to  alter  nothing  in  the  "plan"  before 
he  gave  it  to  him  at  "his  importunity,"  and 
he,  Raymond,  then  had  written  Mr.  Vassar 
"a  private  letter  concerning  the  authorship  of 
the  plan."  Jewett  had  made  it  "ridiculous  and 
wholly  impracticable," — "a  mongrel  affair." 
When  it  is  pubUshed,  he  will  address  the  press 
on  it  over  his  own  signature,  and  the  Trustees 
also.  Evidently,  he  is  sorely  irritated,  full  of 
enmity  to  Jewett,  and  persistent  toward  the 
founder. 

To  this  irritated  letter,  Mr.  Vassar  responds 
by  Mr.  Schou's  hand^  on  September  2,  after 
an  enforced  absence  in  Newport.  He,  Vassar, 
has  tried  to  be  "neutral"  between  Jewett  and 

^  Letter,  Copies,  p.  70. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    155 

Raymond.  He  regrets  that  Raymond's  feel- 
ings should  be  cool  toward  him,  —  but  his 
letter  also  begins,  "Dear  Sir,"  and  is  signed, 
"Very  respectfully."  February  6,  1864,  he 
writes  again,  seeking  further  counsel  in  the  old 
lines,  as  the  organization  will  be  settled  at  the 
coming  meeting.  He  had  loaned  Jewett  all  his 
old  letters  to  him  when  in  Europe  in  which 
he  had  discussed  with  him  C.  A.  Raymond's 
views,  and  had  not  got  them  back.  He  (Vassar) 
believes,  as  he  did  twenty  years  ago,  that 
woman  should  educate  her  own  sex. 

In  April  of  1864,  Raymond  is  at  work  in 
Washington.  He  has  written  Swan  many  let- 
ters in  the  mean  time  (dated  at  the  oflSce  of 
the  Paymaster-General),  beginning  in  Janu- 
ary. Evidently  Mr.  Swan  was  drawing  him 
out,  and  probably  securing  his  opinion  of 
Jewett  and  his  work,  regarding  which  a  small 
body  of  the  Trustees  had  serious  doubts. 
Raymond's  letters  are  very  long  and  rehearse 
all  the  material  already  reviewed,  but  his 
caution  has  given  way  to  vituperation  against 
Jewett.  He  writes  as  if  Jewett  had  never  heard 
of  the  plan  of  studies  he  reports  until  he  had 


156      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

instructed  him  in  it,  and  that  in  fact  Jewett 
had  never  had  any  experience  in  any  kind  of  a 
college.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  Raymond's 
was  hmited  to  institutions  really  of  school 
grade,  as  was  true  of  the  Chesapeake  Female 
College,  among  the  incorporators  of  which  his 
name  appears  in  March,  1860,  one  year  before 
the  war.^  The  assertions  regarding  this  are 
reiterated  again  and  again,  and  he  claims  that 
even  the  smallest  details  of  the  "schools"  were 
arranged  by  himself,  excepting  the  school  of 
philosophy,  which  was  Jewett's  own,  —  and 
such  a  scheme!  Jewett  had  even  sought  him 
out  at  Hamilton.  For  Mr.  Vassar,  Jewett,  he 
says,  seemed  to  care  no  more  than  for  a  fat 
orange  he  was  to  squeeze,  and  toward  Raymond 
himself  he  "cooled  off  wonderfully"  as  soon  as 
he  had  gained  what  he  wished. 

On  February  1,  he  tells  Swan  that  he  has 
urged  the  founder  against  all  haste  till  every- 
thing is  prepared,  and  Jewett's  plan  is  not  ready 
and  will  not  work.  This  may  well  have  influ- 
enced the  decision  to  postpone  its  adoption, 

1  Letter  from  the  Keeper  of  the  Rolls  of  Virginia,  December 
5,  1912. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    157 

made  at  the  meeting  that  month,  when  the 
founder  spoke  so  wisely  and  affectingly  of  the 
delay  and  of  the  need  to  be  ready.  Raymond 
ofiFers  detailed  criticism,  too,  of  the  "plan,"  — 
that  it  offered  too  much  for  the  pupils'  good, 
that  the  groups  needed  rearrangement  and 
adjustment,  that  too  much  is  left  to  the  caprice 
of  teachers,  who  need  more  law,  and  who 
should  carry  out  the  founder's  views.  Jewett's 
effort  to  get  great  names  is  mere  advertising; 
the  Trustees  must  make  him  "behave." 

The  letters  follow  one  another  in  close  order. 
On  February  3,  1864,  Raymond  asserts  that 
Mr.  Vassar  offered  him  the  vice-presidency  (a 
statement  not  supported  in  the  founder's  let- 
ters), but  that  Jewett  would  not  have  him 
under  any  name.  He,  Raymond,  would  have 
a  President  unconnected  with  the  educational 
work.  Jewett  might  fill  this  place!  Then  the 
Vice-President  would  control  the  educational 
administration  —  and  Jewett  could  not  possi- 
bly do  this.  A  few  professors,  solely  for  the 
classroom,  could  be  gradually  eliminated,  and 
the  teachers  meet  the  demand.  No  families 
would  live  in  the  building,  and  no  chaplain 


158      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

unless  a  woman!  Thus  he  rails  at  Jewett's 
plans,  and  instances  his  placing  the  new  "cabi- 
nets" in  the  attic!  He  is  willing  to  go  to  the 
coming  Trustees'  meeting  and  answer  ques- 
tions ! 

On  February  12,  Raymond  sees  that  some- 
thing has  happened  to  loose  Jewett's  hold  on 
the  founder,  on  Swan,  and  a  few  others.  Would 
it  be  improper  for  him  to  ask  what?  He  won- 
ders if  he  should  not  tell  Mr.  Vassar  what  he 
knows  of  Jewett's  "representations"  of  him 
"in  the  matter  of  founding  V.  F.  C."  But  does 
he  intrude? 

Evidently  Swan  keeps  his  own  counsel  and 
encourages  Raymond,  for  on  the  17th  of  Febru- 
ary (Swan  had  written  him  the  15th),  just 
before  the  great  meeting,  he  attacks  Jewett  as 
treacherous,  false  to  the  founder,  and  true  only 
to  himself.  Are  they  not  guilty  of  complicity 
if,  knowing  these  things,  they  conceal  them 
from  Mr.  Vassar?  Then  definitely,  under  five 
points,  he  indicates  his  opinion:  Jewett  claims 
all  the  credit  for  the  college,  having  found  Mr. 
Vassar  uncertain,  vacillating,  —  and  talked 
him  into  it.  He  is  insubordinate  to  Mr.  Vas- 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    159 

sar*s  wishes,  and  is  heartless  in  his  determin- 
ation to  get  his  money.'  He  disregards  the 
founder's  wish  regarding  sectarianism  (a 
charge  that  he  knew  would  arouse  Swan).  He 
will  not  appoint  a  professor  who  feels  indebted 
to  the  founder  rather  than  to  himself.  He 
always  puts  himself  in  the  foreground,  not  Mr. 
Vassar.  He  is  incompetent,  no  scholar,  with- 
out experience,  without  fidelity  to  the  founder, 
an  "incubus,"  and  he  stole  his  university  sys- 
tem of  education!  He,  Raymond,  does  not 
want  his  place.  He  would  take  the  vice- 
presidency  if  it  came  as  Mr.  Vassar's  gift.  It 
is  to  be  remembered  that  these  letters  were 
drawn  out  by  Mr.  Swan,  that  Raymond 
assumed  for  himseK  ultimate  wisdom  regard- 
ing "female  education,"  and  that  uneasiness 
regarding  Jewett  was  felt  by  four  or  five 
Trustees,  including  Swan,  and  possibly  by  the 
founder.  Thus  the  correspondence,  hitherto 
unknown  to  readers  of  the  history  of  Vassar,  is 
seen  to  be  an  important  factor  in  the  judgment 
of  Jewett. 

This  episode  without  doubt  prepared  Mr. 
Vassar  and  Mr.  Swan  for  distrust  of  Jewett  and 


160      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

for  an  exaggeration  of  the  importance  of  his 
criticisms  in  the  crucial  letter  which  forced  his 
resignation.  Perhaps  there  can  be  as  little 
doubt  that  Dr.  Jewett  was  as  fully  informed 
regarding  the  "university  system"  as  Charles 
A.  Raymond  himself,  though  the  latter  asserts 
that  he  could  not  grasp  his  ideas  as  rapidly  as 
the  plain  business  man,  the  founder,  had.  If,  as 
seems  certain,  Jewett  now  knew  of  this  active 
counter-current,  it  may  account  in  part  for  the 
extreme  expressions  in  the  private  letters  whose 
discovery  compelled  his  resignation. 

The  letter,  or  letters,  referred  to  were  written 
just  before  the  meeting  of  February,  1864, 
when  Dr.  Jewett  hoped  to  carry  through  three 
distinct  measures  of  paramount  importance,  — 
the  adoption  of  the  plan  of  educational  organi- 
zation, the  agreement  to  open  the  college  that 
fall,  the  appointment  of  professors.  He  was 
fully  aware  of  opposition  to  all  of  these,  — 
harassed  and  anxious,  —  and  as  he  writes  Dr. 
Bishop,  later,  "almost  prostrated"  by  the 
excitement  of  "the  last  six  or  seven  weeks," 
by  "official  and  personal  insults"  and  "the 
fatal  blow  which  he  believed  to  be  aimed  at  the 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    161 

college,"  and  by  the  "vile  misrepresentations" 
and  slanders  used  to  alienate  Mr.  Vassar.  He 
knew  his  enemies  regarded  him  as  "obnoxious " 
and  were  resolved  to  remove  him,  and  "sleep- 
less nights  and  loss  of  appetite"  had  "com- 
bined to  make  him  sick  in  body,  mind,  and 
heart."! 

Under  these  conditions  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Hague,  a  Trustee,  in  response  to  his  request 
for  information,  pointing  out  the  subjects  that 
must  be  considered  and  the  oppositions  that 
must  be  encountered.  No  copy  of  that  letter 
has  thus  far  been  discovered,  though  the 
author  of  it  wrote  it  to  six  people,  Anderson, 
Bishop,  Raymond,  Robinson,  Magoon,  —  as 
well  as  Hague.  Bishop,  we  know,  burned  his 
copy.''  In  his  story  Jewett  speaks  freely  of  it, 
but  writes  with  the  calmness  of  the  distance  of 
many  years.  He  says  he  stated  the  matters, 
especially  "the  grand  questioning  of  the  open- 
ing" in  the  fall,  the  arguments  on  both  sides, 
"the  desperate  efforts  which  would  be  made 
by  the  opposition  and  spoke  of  Mr.  Vassar  as 

^  Letter  to  Bishop,  February  27,  1864. 

*  Letter  to  Jewett,  March  24,  and  Letter  of  March  8, 1864. 


162      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

inclined  to  accede  to  their  wishes."  He  "ex- 
pressed the  conviction,  however,  that  Mr. 
Vassar  would  yield  readily  to  the  Trustees  if 
the  majority  were  decidedly  in  favor"  of  the 
opening.  But  in  opening  his  heart  freely  and 
confidentially  to  his  correspondent  he  referred 
to  the  diflSculties  that  had  environed  him  and 
the  obstacles  which  the  malice  of  his  enemies 
threw  in  his  way  at  every  step.  "Added  to  these, 
I  remarked,  *  Mr.  Vassar  grows  more  fickle  and 
childish  every  day.'"^ 

This  must  be  a  very  mild  memory  of  a  very 
heated  letter.  We  have  five  letters  of  Jewett's, 
strangely  preserved  —  where  so  much  has  dis- 
appeared —  in  the  college  archives,  and  evi- 
dently placed  there  by  Dr.  Bishop,  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  They  are  written  after 
the  meeting,  but  they  throw  a  backward  light 
on  the  contents  of  the  letter.  Bishop  advised 
him  against  writing  so  "freely," '^  and,  as  just 
related,  had  burned  his  own  copy.  Jewett  says ' 
that  the  letter  was  written  under  great  excite- 
ment and  handled  "men  and  motives  with  no 

^  Manuscript  narrative,  pp.  133, 140. 

*  February  29.  «  March  8. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    163 

gloved  hands/'  regardless  of  self-interest  and 
self-preservation,  in  love  and  anxiety  for  the 
college.  Bishop  refers^  to  its  severe  expressions 
and  strong  censure.  Kelly,  who  returned  from 
a  journey  at  this  time,  and  to  whom  Jewett 
told  his  story,  said  that  he  "ought  not  to  have 
written  such  a  letter  to  any  man,"  and  spoke  of 
Mr.  Vassar's  grief  over  "that  cruel  letter." ^ 

Manifestly,  the  letter  was  severe,  a  heated 
attack  on  his  supposed  enemies  in  the  Board, 
but  meant  only  to  put  the  friends  of  the  col- 
lege on  their  guard  in  considering  its  interests 
at  the  approaching  meeting.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  it  was  in  the  hands  of  six  active 
and  able  Trustees  when  the  subjects  referred 
to  came  before  the  Board,  —  February  23, 
1864. 

The  crucial  question  turned  on  the  opening 
of  the  college  in  the  fall.  If  that  were  decided 
on,  the  curriculum  must  be  adopted  now  and 
the  professors  appointed.  Jewett  says,  in  his 
narrative,  that  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  and  Swift,  and 
one  other  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
argued  against  the  opening  with  great  earnest- 

*  In  his  letter  of  March  14.  '  Jewett,  March  17. 


164      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ness.^  A  number  of  prominent  members 
argued  for  it,  alleging  the  expectations  of  the 
community  and  the  ability  of  the  committee 
to  have  the  college  in  readiness.  He  took  no 
part  in  the  debate,  and  Mr.  Vassar  expressed 
his  willingness  to  leave  the  decision  to  the 
Board.  "On  taking  the  question  all  the 
Trustees  voted  in  favor  of  the  opening  in  Sep- 
tember excepting  the  gentlemen  above  named 
and  Dr.  Babcock."^ 

In  essentials  this  is  correct,  but  calls  for 
modification.  The  founder,  while  anxious  to 
have  the  college  opened  as  soon  as  possible, 
for  every  personal  reason  invoked  caution  and 
care.  He  wrote  Dr.  Anderson,  January  19, 
expressing    grave   doubts,   for  financial   and 

1  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  138. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  139.  Dr.  Babcock  was  an  able,  prominent 
clergyman,  at  this  time  resident  in  Poughkeepsie,  and  a  charter 
member  of  the  Board.  That  he  and  Jewett  were  separating  in 
their  views  as  early  as  May,  1863,  the  founder's  book  of 
Copies  (pp.  64-66)  makes  clear.  He  says  it  is  not  due  to 
anything  Babcock  has  done  or  left  undone,  but  some  one  has 
aroused  a  prejudice  in  Jewett's  mind,  and  he  thinks  time  will 
work  a  cure.  Later  he  tells  Babcock  that  Jewett's  "  prejudices  ** 
are  "candid  and  honest";  that  the  issue  was  really  due  to 
Babcock's  wish  to  have  a  chair  in  the  college  (this  is  confirmed 
by  Jewett's  manuscript  narrative),  and  to  Jewett's  determina- 
tion that  he  should  not. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    165 

other  reasons.^  His  first  desire  was  to  have  all 
ready  and  perfect.  "Though  no  one  of  you  can 
realize  the  extent  of  my  deep  solicitude,"  he 
says  in  what  is  perhaps  the  most  important  of 
all  his  "Communications"  to  the  Board,  "that 
I  may  be  spared  by  my  Heavenly  Father  to  see 
the  final  and  successful  achievement  of  a  life 
prolonged,  /  still  invoke  deliberation  and  not 
haste.'* 

The  debate  was  a  very  general  one,  several 
resolutions  being  offered  and  defeated.  At 
last.  Dr.  Robinson  moved  that  the  Executive 
Committee  exert  itself  to  complete  the  college 
for  opening  in  September,  and  this  was  carried, 
leaving  the  result  in  doubt.*  Thereupon  the 
motion  was  carried  that  Dr.  Jewett's  educa- 
tional plan  be  referred  back  to  the  Committee, 
which  should  report  at  the  June  meeting.' 

One  other  event  of  that  meeting  deserves 
mention.  Dr.  Lossing  urged  an  elaborate  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  changing  the  title  of  the 

^  Copies,  p.  84. 

'  Raymond  (J.  H.)  thought  it  important  to  open  the  college 
in  September,  but  changed  his  mind  in  May.  All  were  relieved 
then  and  especially  the  founder.  {Life,  p.  517.) 

'  Official  minutes. 


166      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

college  by  the  omission  of  the  word  "female." 
Considering  the  later  discussion  and  the  found- 
er's remarks  favoring  the  change,  the  fact  of 
the  defeat  of  the  resolution  is  particularly  in- 
teresting.^ 

This  meeting  was  recognized  by  Jewett  as  a 
defeat.  Could  it  have  escaped  his  attention 
that,  in  referring  to  the  genesis  of  his  idea  of 
a  college,  the  founder  had  not  mentioned  him.^* 
For  seven  years,  he  says  in  his  narrative,  he 
had  "maintained  his  ascendancy  over  Mr. 
Vassar"  and  had  never  proposed  a  measure 
that  he  did  not  adopt.  His  foes  had  deter- 
mined to  shake  his  hold  and  not  to  have  the 
college  opened  with  him  as  President,  he  wrote 
from  memory  in  1879.  Mr.  Jewett,  they  told 
the  founder,  wished  to  open  it  for  his  own 
glorification,  and  after  the  opening  Mr.  Vassar 
would  be  "a  mere  no-body.*'  "For  the  first 
time"  he  could  not  bring  the  founder  to  his 

*  The  founder  had  still  defended  the  word  "female"  on 
November  6, 1863  {Copies,  p.  71),  but  in  April,  1864  {Ibid.,  p. 
96),  says  to  Mrs.  Hale  that  when  the  time  comes  to  donate  a 
further  sum  he  will  make  the  change  a  condition  of  his  gift! 
Mr.  Vassar  writes  Mrs.  Hale,  February  26, 1864,  that  Bishop, 
Anderson,  John  Raymond,  were  adverse,  and  he  suspects 
Jewett's  zeal  for  the  change. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    167 

view.i  Possibly  he  exaggerated  the  spirit  of 
the  opposition,  and  possibly  underestimated 
the  difficulties  before  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee; but  Charles  A.  Raymond's  letters  show  the 
growing  enmity,  and  M.  Vassar,  Jr.'s,  diary 
proves  the  animus  of  the  nephew's  antagonism. 
The  forces  had  gathered  for  Jewett's  destruc- 
tion. Prudence,  caution,  tact  might  have 
saved  him,  even  then,  but  the  powder  was 
ready  for  the  spark,  and  the  spark  fell.  **  Now,'" 
says  the  manuscript  narrative,  "occurred  one 
of  those  unaccountable  incidents  which  Provi- 
dence sometimes  employs  to  shape  our  lives 
and  control  our  destinies." 

As  Jewett  tells  the  tale.  Dr.  Hague  (he 
leaves  the  name  in  blank),  "one  of  the  leading 
Trustees,"  told  Mr.  Swan  that  he  would  like 
to  write  a  letter,  whereupon  Swan  invited  him 
to  his  oflSce  and  gave  him  the  materials.  When 
Dr.  Hague  left  his  oflBce,  Swan  returned  and 
observed  two  or  three  sheets  of  paper  lying  on 
the  table,  and  saw  they  were  in  the  President's 
familiar  hand.  He  reads  the  letter,  addressed 
to  Dr.  Hague.  "This  was  enough!"  "Mr. 
*  Manuscript  narrative,  pp.  137-39. 


168      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Swan,  thinking  the  letter  was  left  in  his  office 
for  a  purpose,  and  fearing  he  would  be  com- 
promised by  silence,  showed  it  to  Mr.  Vassar." 
His  enemies,  he  adds  with  mild  truth,  "now 
felt  that  they  had  in  their  hands  the  means  of 
crushing  the  President."  They  pointed  out, 
he  says,  to  the  founder,  how  unworthy  Jewett 
had  shown  himself  of  his  kindness  and  confi- 
dence, his  disrespect  and  even  contempt  for 
him,  his  effort  to  influence  the  Trustees  in 
advance  against  the  founder's  wishes  regard- 
ing the  opening,  his  assumption  of  dictator- 
ship, and  his  treatment  of  the  founder  as  a 
feeble  old  man  in  his  second  childhood.  The 
founder  must  insist  on  his  resignation.^ 

It  should  be  said  at  once  that  though  Dr. 
Jewett  at  first  suspected,  as  others  did,  includ- 
ing Mr.  Swan,  that  the  dropping  of  the  letter 
was  a  "betrayal,"  and  part  of  a  "plot,"'^  he 
changed  his  view.  "Subsequent  inquiry  con- 
vinced Mr.  Swan  that  he  was  mistaken,  and 

the  positive  assurance  of  Dr.  himself 

satisfied  me  that  the  matter  was  purely  acci- 
dental."  That  perhaps  cannot  be  said  of  the 
*  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  140.    '  Letter  of  March  8, 1864. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    169 

reading  of  the  letter  by  Mr.  Swan.  Mr.  Jewett, 
however,  finds  "the  grand  mistake  .  .  .  when 
I  put  on  paper  words  so  uncomphmentary  to 
Mr.  Vassar."^ 

But  was  there  a  "plot,"  as  was  thought  by 
some?  There  is  no  reason  to  assume  such  an 
unnecessary  event.  There  was  opposition  to 
Mr.  Jewett  by  the  nephews,  from  the  start, 
and  naturally  enough  by  several  others,  friends 
or  counselors  of  theirs.  Charles  A.  Raymond's 
letters  show  the  bitterness  of  his  opposition, 
and  one  cannot  think  that  he  expressed  it  only 
to  Mr.  Vassar  and  Mr.  Swan.  Probably  Mr. 
Jewett  had  come  to  assume,  with  some  justice, 
that  he  himself  represented  the  founder's 
views.  We  have  already  noted  sundry  adverse 
expressions,  even  from  Bishop,  and  "young 
Matt's"  diary  discloses  deep  opposition  to 
Jewett  himself.  Probably  the  founder  was 
growing  restless  under  Jewett's  influence,  — 
and  it  is  not  in  the  least  unlikely  that  he  was  at 
times  "vacillating."  Not  even  "founders"  are 
infallible,  and  they  have  been  known  to  be 
"difficult."    Doubtless  Mr.  Jewett  had  met 

^  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  148. 


170      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

enough  to  ruffle  his  spirit,  and  to  make  him 
"sick  at  heart,"  and  his  manuscript,  in  1879, 
is  far  calmer  than  the  few  letters  we  have  from 
1864. 

It  is  difficult  to  trace  in  detail  the  events  of 
the  next  few  days.  How  soon  did  the  letter 
become  known  to  the  "enemies"?  An  en  try- 
in  the  diary  of  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  —  which  seems 
to  omit  the  meeting  of  February  23,  —  states 
that  the  Executive  Committee  met  on  Febru- 
ary 29,  and  passed  a  resolution  "forprogressg 
with  college  and  purchase  furniture  and  other 
matters  particularly  of  the  Hypocracy  and 
unfair  acts  of  Presdt  Jewitt  —  his  intrigue, 
cunning,  Jesuitical  proceedings  against  M.  V. 
and  others  —  his  would  be  one  man  power — 
which  is  showing  itself  time  will  prove  his  evil 
attempts."  March  1,  he  writes  again,  "engagd 
at  coUge  office  this  a.m.  with  committee  on 
matters  pertaining  to  business  of  M.  V.  con- 
nection with  Jewitt  —  the  latter  evil  attempts 
to  injure  Comtte  as  also  the  Founder."  We 
may  accept  this  as  a  clear  reference  to  the 
"dropped  letter,"  and  a  conference  as  to  the 
proper  policy  to  be  pursued. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    171 

On  March  2  Mr.  Vassar  wrote  Jewett  that 
he  had  before  him  a  letter  in  his  handwriting 
and  signed  by  him,  from  which  he  quoted 
extracts.  No  further  confidence  was  possible 
between  them  and  he  asked  for  his  resignation 
without  delay.  All  further  communications 
must  be  in  writing.  ^  Jewett  was  away  a  week, 
and  found  this  letter  on  his  return.  He  an- 
swered it  kindly  and  tenderly,  reviewing  all 
their  relations,  but  saying  that  the  resignation 
was  a  matter  for  consideration  in  the  light  of 
his  own  reputation  as  well  as  of  the  interests 
of  the  college.  He  writes  Bishop  that  he  pro- 
poses to  go  on  doing  his  duty,  and  if  his  resig- 
nation is  insisted  on  to  present  all  the  facts  to 
the  Board,  from  the  beginning,  and  leave  the 
decision  to  the  Trustees.  He  asks  Bishop's 
advice,  suggests  that  he  show  the  letter  to 
Lathrop  and  Raymond  (J.  H.),  and  then  bum 
it.  Or  would  it  be  better  limited  to  Bishop 
himself?^  Jewett  says  in  his  narrative  that  he 
laid  the  subject  before  several  resident  trustees, 
and  they  protested  against  his  resignation  and 

*  Letter  from  Jewett  to  Bishop,  March  8. 
»  Letter,  Marph  8. 


172      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

denied  the  right  of  the  founder  to  "sacrifice 
the  President  to  the  enmity  of  his  heirs  and 
their  aUies  or  to  his  own  wounded  self-love. 
The  majority  would  vote  against  the  resigna- 
tion and  would  support  him."  He  adds  that 
William  Kelly  "urged  this  view"  and  "en- 
gaged to  induce  Mr.  Vassar  to  accept  a  proper 
explanation  "  from  Jewett.  "  In  this,  as  I  after- 
wards too  tardily  learned,  he  was  successful," 
he  says,  but  we  shall  have  reason  to  modify  this 
view  as  we  follow  the  contemporary  letters. 
Jewett  adds  the  story  that  some  months  later 
*'a  gentleman  present"  told  him  that  Mr. 
Vassar  wrote  a  note  accepting  his  apology  and 
asking  him  to  call;  that  Matthew,  Jr.,  saw  it 
and  threw  it  into  the  fire,  saying  there  should 
be  no  reconciliation  and  that  Mr.  Jewett  should 
resign.^  This  also  must  be  read  in  the  light  of 
the  letters,  and  Jewett  did  not  know  it  at  the 
time.  As  he  received  no  note,  he  tells  us,  he 
concluded  that  Mr.  Kelly  had  failed  in  his 
mission,  and  as  he  could  not  work  without  the 
founder's  full  confidence,  he  must  resign.  But 
on  what  terms?  He  rehearses  his  reflections  on 

^  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  142. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    173 

the  financial  losses  he  had  suffered  through 
these  years,  and  his  probable  power  to  recover 
a  good  sum  before  his  resignation.  And  he 
recalls  that  the  New  York  law  protects  a 
President  from  removal  without  full  cause,  and 
that  he  might  reestablish  himself  in  Mr. 
Vassar's  esteem.  On  the  other  hand,  his  suc- 
cess now  against  "the  formidable  combina- 
tion" was  doubtful,  especially  in  view  of  the 
attitude  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the 
result  might  be  disaster  and  disgrace.  The 
college  might  be  delayed,  Mr.  Vassar  "wearied 
and  disgusted,"  and  the  whole  scheme  ren- 
dered abortive.  That  weighed  most  with  him, 
the  interest  of  a  work  to  which  he  had  given  so 
many  years.  He  would  resign  unconditionally, 
assigning  no  reason,  and  the  public  should 
never  know  that  there  had  been  trouble  "be- 
tween the  projector  and  the  founder  of  the 
college." 

"Influenced  by  these  considerations,  on 
April  16,  1864, 1  placed  my  resignation  in  the 
hands  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees."  The  letter  is  a  model  of  courteous 
feeling,  without  a  reflection  of  the  bitterness 


174      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

of  spirit  out  of  which  it  had  come,  and  is 
worthy  of  a  gentleman,  and  one  who  had  given 
his  best  to  a  new  and  noble  work.  The  steps 
which  preceded  it,  however,  call  for  some 
review. 

Dr.  Bishop  replied  to  Jewett's  letter  of  the 
8th  of  March  on  the  14th,  and  saved  a  copy, 
which  the  college  has.  He  says  Jewett  was  not 
"betrayed":  the  letter  was  lost.  He  advises 
that  either  he  must  pay  no  attention  to  Mr. 
Vassar's  letter,  or  resign,  and  his  course  must 
be  determined  by  his  own  feelings.  He  would 
better  resign  for  the  sake  of  putting  "himself 
before  the  Trustees  and  public  in  the  most 
gentlemanly  attitude."  If  the  Trustees  refused 
to  accept  his  resignation,  his  position  would  be 
improved;  and  if  it  were  accepted,  his  place 
before  the  world  would  be  more  dignified  than 
if  he  were  forced  to  resign.  The  "lost  paper" 
has  undoubtedly  seriously  damaged  his  stand 
with  the  Board,  says  ''Fidus  Achates.** 

At  this  point  we  note  once  more  the  influ- 
ence of  Charles  A.  Raymond.  On  the  7th  of 
March  he  is  asking  Swan  for  news  of  the  great 
meeting.   He  has  been  busy  at  Fort  Monroe 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    175 

planning  for  the  education  of  Negroes  and 
whites,  with  General  Butler's  favor.  March 
14,  the  day  of  Bishop's  letter  to  Jewett,  he  has 
heard  confidentially  from  Swan,  but  does  not 
wholly  understand  the  disposition  of  the 
"plan."  He  would  drop  Jewett.  His  leaving 
would  do  the  college  good.  Let  Mr.  Vassar 
frame  a  letter  which  he  can  publish,  calling 
for  a  reorganization  along  lines  he  approves. 
Raymond  will  act  for  him  if  he  wishes  it,  — 
and  he  suggests  details  of  a  business  organiza- 
tion. He  rejoices  that  the  *^ Autocracy  is 
ended,"  but  evidently  he  does  not  yet  know 
fully  the  existing  conditions.  He  sketches  a 
long  letter  on  March  16,  as  a  model  for  Mr. 
Vassar  to  send.  He  is  not  himself  sure  that  he 
can  undertake  the  task,  but  might  get  leave  of 
absence. 

Jewett  answers  Bishop  on  March  17.  He 
honors  and  loves  him  for  his  strong  advice. 
He  has  seen  Mr.  Kelly,  the  chairman  of  the 
Board,  shown  him  Mr.  Vassar's  letter,  and 
Jewett's  reply,  and  told  him  the  history  of  his 
troubles  from  1860  on.  Kelly  had  expressed 
his  sympathy,  though  he  had  condemned  the 


176      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

famous  letter  sharply.  He  had  seen  Mr. 
Vassar,  who  "grieved  deeply  over  that  cruel 
letter,"  but  yet  had  kindly  feelings  for  Jewett. 
Kelly  had  shown  him  that  he  could  not  have 
had  any  motive  but  for  the  good  of  the  college 
and  intended  no  reflection  on  the  founder,  and 
had  urged  Mr.  Vassar  to  allow  Jewett  to  call 
in  person  and  apologize.  That  interview  had 
been  had,  and  "all  is  right.'*  "Mr.  Vassar 
apologized  for  alluding  to  my  resignation,  hav- 
ing done  so  under  excitement,"  and  he  prom- 
ised "to  forgive  and  forget."  Hereafter,  he 
(Jewett)  will  keep  to  his  duties  as  President 
and  on  the  Committee  on  faculty.  He  has 
learned  a  lesson!  "Of  the  *  accident,'"  he 
adds,  "or  on  the  course  of  the  man  who  put 
the  letter  into  Mr.  Vassar's  hands,  the  writer 
of  so  indiscreet  a  letter  has  no  right  to  com- 
ment." 

Jewett's  view  of  the  case  was  too  roseate. 
Mr.  Vassar  never  gave  him  his  confidence 
again  and  aflBrms  that  Jewett  misunderstood 
his  politeness.  His  letter  to  Mr.  Kelly  should 
be  read  in  full,  as  showing  his  point  of  view, 
and  in  justice  to  his  poise,  his  wisdom,  and  his 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    177 

firmness  of  character.^    The  letter  is  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

PouGHKEEPSiE,  March  24,  1864. 
Hon.  William  Kelly, 

My  dear  Sir  :  —  The  very  friendly  tone  of  your 
letter  to  me  of  the  21st  instant  (which  would  have 
received  an  earlier  notice  but  for  my  feeble  health) 
justifies  the  entire  confidence  I  have  in  your  judg- 
ment and  your  interest  in  myself  and  all  that  con- 
cerns our  College.  From  you  I  have  nothing  what- 
ever to  conceal.  I  am  gratified  at  your  approval 
of  my  conduct  in  this  emergency  with  Mr.  Jewett 
and  I  have  the  utmost  hope,  that  I  shall  do  nothing 
that  may  not  meet  the  approval  of  every  good  man. 
But  your  letter  embarrasses  me,  since  it  leads  me 
to  believe  you  are  not  fairly  apprised  of  the  result 
of  the  late  interview  between  myself  and  Mr. 
Jewett.  I,  of  course  treated  him  politely  as  my 
own  self-respect  required  me  to  do,  but  nothing 
occurred  to  justify  any  hope  or  expression  on  his 
part  that  our  relations  were  to  be  hereafter  differ- 
ent than  those  indicated  in  my  letter  to  him  on  the 
2d  instant  which  I  read  to  you,  —  upon  receiving 

*  In  November,  1888,  the  late  President  Backus,  of  the 
Packer  Institute,  sent  to  the  writer  a  copy  of  this  letter,  made 
from  the  original  in  Mr.  Wight's  collection.  He  had  suggested 
to  Mr.  Wight  that  the  original  should  be  given  to  Vassar 
College,  but  he  had  concluded  to  allow  a  copy  only  to  be  sent 
for  the  archives.  The  original  letter  later  came  to  the  college. 
Dr.  Backus  thought  that  Dr.  Jewett's  view  of  the  attitude  of 
the  founder,  as  expressed  personally  to  him,  seemed  inconsis- 
tent with  the  statements  of  the  letter. 


178      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

your  letter,  I  have  written  him  again  to  this  effect, 
so  that  he  may  be  under  no  mis-apprehension. 
Indeed  I  cannot  conceive  how  it  was  possible  for 
him  so  far  to  have  misunderstood  me  for  I  have 
not  and  cannot  give  him  again  "the  possession  of 
my  friendly  confidence."  He  cannot  have  derived 
that  idea  from  any  thing  that  has  passed  between 
us  for  nothing  has  in  any  way  justified  it.  I  cannot 
again  feel  safe  in  his  hands  or  receiving  him  alone 
if  such  representations  are  to  follow  our  interviews. 
I  beg  you  my  dear  Sir  to  look  at  my  position. 
I  have  given  the  results  of  my  life  to  this  College  — 
a  very  toilsome  long  and  anxious  life.  I  have  hoped 
to  do  a  good  thing  and  indeed  a  great  one.  I  have 
given  it  every  effort  and  every  thought  of  my  later 
years  unweariedly.  It  excludes  every  other  interest 
and  every  other  occupation.  My  confidence  has 
been  most  assiduously  sought  for  years  past  by 
Prof.  Jewett  and  has  been  obtained  to  an  unlimited 
extent.  I  have  allowed  his  importunities  at  times 
to  forestall  my  own  judgment,  so  that  I  have  been 
willing  to  yield  my  personal  preferences  and  ideas 
to  advance  my  undertaking.  But  one  concession 
has  only  demanded  another  and  another  until  my 
confidence  has  been  made  to  waver  and  I  have 
struggled  with  the  doubts  raised  upon  his  conduct 
whether  he  were  equal  to  the  position  he  has  sought 
and  obtained  at  my  hands.  It  is  with  extreme 
regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  admit  that  I  have 
not  obtained  from  him  practically  that  assistance 
or  that  counsel  which  has  assured  my  own  mind 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    179 

as  to  the  clearness  of  his  judgment  or  his  power 
to  organize  and  control  this  immense  interest,  and 
these  doubts  Sir,  have  been  my  own.  My  wishes 
and  my  prejudices  have  all  the  time  been  thrown 
strongly  in  his  favor  hoping  continually  that  he 
might  eventually  be  able  to  remove  them  and 
justify  my  expectations  and  what  the  College 
absolutely  requires.  Prof.  Jewett  has  been  always 
entirely  mistaken  as  to  the  extent  or  violence  of 
any  prejudice  upon  the  part  of  any  members  of 
the  Ex.  Com.  against  him  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
judge.  It  is  impossible  that  there  should  have  been 
this  hostility  to  him  or  to  the  enterprise  which  he 
has  without  its  coming  to  my  knowledge.  You  may 
depend  upon  it  they  are  unreal  —  at  all  events  up 
to  a  very  late  period  and  even  now  they  do  not 
take  any  shape  beyond  what  must  be  the  natural 
consequences  of  Prof.  Jewett's  own  conduct  and 
expressions.  Under  these  circumstances  what  can 
I  do  that  I  have  not  done.  I  am  laboring  exhaust- 
ingly  for  this  College.  I  cannot  and  do  not  propose 
to  compel  Prof.  Jewett  to  resign  his  place  but  I 
must  rid  myself  of  all  responsibilities  and  throw  it 
wholly  upon  the  Trustees.  We  must  have  the  ablest 
man  to  be  found  at  its  head  and  in  order  to  ensure 
its  success.  If  the  Trustees  can  find  in  Mr.  Jewett's 
conduct  or  in  any  thing  he  has  so  far  done  anything , 
sufficient  guarantee  that  he  is  the  man,  I  can  be 
silent.  So  far  as  he  has  affronted  me  in  my  person 
I  do  not  wish  that  to  weigh  against  the  College. 
I  can  endure  anything  almost  if  my  College  may 


180      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

succeed.  If  his  sincerity,  discretion,  foresight,  if  his 
mental  and  moral  power  as  a  controller  of  other 
minds  and  leader  in  an  undeveloped  path,  recom- 
mend him  beyond  any  other  man  he  must  remain 
the  President,  —  It  would  have  been  an  infinite 
relief  to  me  to  have  found  him  equal  to  the  confi- 
dence I  have  given  him  personally.  It  would  have 
been  my  most  exalted  personal  pleasure  to  have 
had  a  President  to  whom  I  could  open  my  whole 
heart  and  on  whom  I  could  most  positively  rely. 
It  is  far  better  that  I  should  fail  in  all  that  if 
that  man  whoever  he  may  be  may  be  able  to  win 
and  preserve  the  confidence  of  my  Trustees  and 
of  the  great  public  at  large  —  a  well  balanced 
mind,  able  and  manly  man  —  a  man  above  all 
intrigue  —  above  selfishness,  —  above  jealousy. 
Reliant  upon  his  open  conduct  of  affairs  for  his  po- 
sition in  oflice  and  in  the  world  which  must  judge 
him. 

I  have  thus  fairly  expressed  every  feeling  and 
desire  I  harbor  —  although  I  fear  at  the  expense  of 
your  patience.  But  I  cannot  nor  do  ask  your  per- 
sonal favor  or  friendship  to  me  to  control  your 
conduct,  but  I  do  anxiously  ask  you  to  give  this 
subject  your  full  reflection  and  that  you  judge  and 
act  as  if  the  Presidential  chair  were  vacant  and 
President  Jewett,  if  you  please,  and  any  other  best 
man  who  you  know  were  in  the  canvass  for  that 
place,  —  who  of  all  the  men  you  know  would  or 
should  receive  your  endorsement,  Mr.  Jewett  or 
any  other  person. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    181 

Please  to  excuse  this  long  letter.  I  several  times 
stopped  to  make  it  shorter  but  could  not. 

Yrs.  most  Respectfully  etc.  etc. 

M.  Vassar.* 

Meanwhile  the  other  influences  were  not 
quiet.  Raymond  (C.  A.)  is  still  prodding  Swan, 
and  in  a  letter  of  April  3  includes  one  to  Mr. 
Vassar,  dated  April  4,  to  be  handed  to  him  if 
Mr.  Swan  finds  it  "judicious."  Whether  he 
deemed  it  so  we  cannot  tell;  but  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  it  was  written  after  Jewett's  trouble 
with  Mr.  Vassar,  but  before  his  resignation 
was  published.  The  vice-presidency  is  still  in 
his  view.  He  would  now  have  matters  above- 
board.    He  offers  himself  as  a  "professional 

^  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Hale,  May  19,  1864,  the  founder  tells 
her  that  he  is  glad  Jewett  had  told  of  his  resignation,  as  it 
saved  him  from  the  painful  duty,  and  he  might  have  been  led 
to  say  more  in  justifying  himself  than  he  should.  He  can  for- 
give, "altho'  I  cannot  forget."  "An  intercepted"  letter  (the 
quotation  marks  are  his)  "disclosed  his  future  views  and  pur- 
poses toward  me  and  my  associates"  —  but  all  is  clear  now. 
J.  H.  Raymond  has  been  appointed  and  he  hopes  he  will 
accept.  Mr.  Vassar  had  written  Mrs.  Hale  in  March  (23d;  he 
demanded  the  resignation  on  the  24th)  that  Jewett's  opposi- 
tion to  his  view  that  every  chair  should  be  filled  by  women  if 
possible,  "with  some  other  matters  (which  I  may  not  trouble 
you  with),  may  possibly  lead  to  the  selection  of  some  other 
person  to  fill  that  chair."  {Copies,  p.  93.) 


182      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

expert**  to  carry  out  Mr.  Vassar*s  principles. 
He  has  done  all  he  can  as  a  simple  friend. 
Jewett  is  incompetent.  Let  him  be  removed. 
Raymond  does  not  wish  the  place,  but  if  he 
can  get  three  months*  leave  and  his  salary,  he 
will  give  his  services.  No  man  can  carry  out 
his  plan  but  himself.  If  Mr.  Vassar  does  not 
find  a  man  (who  must  carry  out  his  own  plan), 
he  knows  that  he  can  rely  on  Raymond.  He 
tells  Swan  there  is  no  other  way  "if  they  wish 
another  President"  "but  to  inaugurate  the 
Vice  Presidency;*'^  "and  which  position  I 
would  much  prefer  to  being  Prest.  if  I  was  to 
have  a  position  of  my  choice."  Mr.  Swan  has 
told  him,  evidently,  that  the  Trustees  are 
reluctant  to  remove  Jewett,  as  Mr.  Vassar*s 
own  choice,  and  he  urges  that  Mr.  Vassar 
shall  say  the  word  (Mr.  Swan,  of  course,  knew 
then  that  the  resignation  had  been  asked,  but 
did  not  care  to  share  the  information  with  this 
"outsider*').  He  goes  further,  again  details 
his  plans  for  the  schools,  and  meets  the  objec- 
tions Mr.  Swan  reports  (April  8),  and  skillfully 
sympathizes  with  him  in  the  lack  of  apprecia- 

»  Letter,  April  4,  1864. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    183 

tion  shown  him  in  his  pecuniary  returns  from 
the  founder  and  the  trustees. 

M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  also  records,^  "called  on  Mr. 
Sheldon,  N.  Y.  and  talked  over  college  affairs, 
the  acts  of  Jewitt  and  his  deception  and 
Hypocracy  and  unfitness  for  oflBce  all  of  which 
is  fully  known  by  the  Board  and  now  seen  as 
has  also  been  seen  heretofore." 

April  23,  Jewett  writes  Bishop  that  he  has 
forwarded  his  resignation  April  16,  and  "not 
had  one  moment  of  despondency  or  dejection." 
He  knows  the  step  is  necessary  to  save  the  col- 
lege from  death  or  paralysis.  But  if  the  Board 
should  care  to  pass  any  kind  expressions  he 

does  not  wish "or  any  of  his  clique" 

"to  have  a  hand  in  preparing  it."  He  does  not 
wish  to  be  killed  by  a  chaplet  of  poisonous 
flowers!  He  then  adds  a  few  points  for  the 
good  of  the  college.  He  had  named  John  H. 
Raymond  as  his  successor  when  he  went  to 
Europe.  He  is  more  than  ever  persuaded  that 
he  is  the  man.  He  would  now  have  a  report 
from  the  Committee  on  Faculty  and  Studies 
that  could  be  embraced  in  an  advertising  cir- 
»  Diary,  April  5, 1864. 


184      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

cular.  He  would  at  once  elect  professors  and 
teachers,  and  name  a  committee  on  furnishing, 
and  open  in  the  fall  of  1864  if  possible. 

Though  not  communicated  to  the  Board  till 
the  29th,  this  fact  was  known  to  Matthew,  Jr., 
on  the  20 th .  "  Pres  Je witt  has  tendered  resigna- 
tion as  PrestV.  F.  College  —  it  has  come  to  the 
same  thgh  the  request  of  N.  York  members  of 
the  Board  Directors  his  attack  by  letter  agnst 
M.  V.  &  Ex  Committee  has  been  the  result." 

Charles  A.  Raymond  has  heard  of  the  crisis 
by  April  24,  and  expresses  to  Swan  his  sym- 
pathy with  Mr.  Vassar  who  knows  the  unsel- 
fishness of  his  (Raymond's)  work  and  thought 
for  him.  Now  it  would  be  a  sacrifice  for  him  to 
take  the  place  so  full  of  difficulty,  but  he  would 
if  Mr.  Vassar  wished  it.  April  27,  he  has 
received  advanced  knowledge  from  Swan  and 
does  not  doubt  that  his  "namesake"  "will  be 
a  great  advance  on  Mr.  Jewett."  He  sends 
him  his  congratulations  and  commiserates  Mr. 
Vassar,  "the  good  poor  man,"  "sadly  worn 
out  and  perplexed."  Later,  May  12,  he  allows 
Swan  to  use  anything  he  has  written  and  offers 
his  assistance  to  the  new  President.    He  is 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    185 

happy  in  the  prospect  of  the  return  of  his 
property  by  the  Government. 

The  official  minutes  of  the  Trustees  show 
that  a  request  for  a  special  meeting  was  pre- 
ferred by  Mr.  Vassar,  M.  Vassar,  Jr.,  Nathan 
Bishop,  Mr.  Swan,  Mr.  Swift,  Mr.  Bucking- 
ham, and  Mr.  Dubois.  The  meeting  was  called 
for  April  29,  the  resignation  was  presented, 
and  unanimously  accepted. 

Mr.  Lossing  presented  appreciative  resolu- 
tions which  were  also  unanimously  adopted. 
Dr.  Jewett  has  the  impression^  that  Matthew, 
Jr.,  objected  to  fuller  resolutions  offered  by 
Dr.  Lossing,  and  "a  substitute  was  prepared 
couched  in  the  most  general  terms  and  mean- 
ing nothing " ;  but  no  hint  of  this  appears  in 
the  minutes.  The  resolutions  as  passed  are  as 
follows :  — 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Swift,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Bishop,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  the 
resignation  of  Dr.  Jewett  as  President  of  this 
College  be  accepted. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Thompson  the  resignation  of 
Dr.  Jewett  as  Trustee  of  this  College  was  unani- 
mously accepted. 

^  Manuscript  narrative,  p.  147. 


186      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Lossing  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  unanimously: 

Whereas  Milo  P.  Jewett,  LL.D.,  has  resigned  his 
office  as  President  of  Vassar  College,  and  his  res- 
ignation having  been  accepted,  therefore. 

Resolved:  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  entertain 
a  high  appreciation  of  the  industry,  zeal  and  energy 
which  President  Jewett  has  uniformly  evinced  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  while  connected  with 
this  college. 

Resolved:  that  on  leaving  his  place  of  active 
co-operation  with  us  in  the  great  work  of  female 
education  he  carries  with  him  our  cordial  good 
wishes  for  his  happiness  and  prosperity. 

Resolved:  that  the  secretary  is  hereby  directed 
to  present  to  Dr.  Jewett  copies  of  these  resolutions 
with  the  corporate  seal  of  the  College  attached. ^ 

^  From  the  Minutes  of  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  April 
29,  1864.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  June, 
1882,  Dr.  Lossing  called  the  attention  of  the  Board  to  the 
death  of  Rev.  Milo  P.  Jewett,  D.D.,  first  President  of  Vassar 
College,  and  offered  the  following  resolution:  "Whereas,  infor- 
mation has  come  of  the  death  at  Milwaukee  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  his  age  of  Rev.  Milo  P.  Jewett,  an  original  trustee 
and  the  first  chosen  President  of  Vassar  College,  and  whereas, 
the  labors  of  Dr.  Jewett  in  the  business  of  promoting  the  higher 
education  of  woman  were  earnest,  incessant,  and  highly  suc- 
cessful during  a  period  of  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
whereas.  Dr.  Jewett  was  one  of  the  chief  helpers  of  the 
Founder  of  Vassar  College  in  maturing  a  plan  of  the  institu- 
tion and  in  carrying  the  enterprise  to  a  successful  conclusion, 
resolved,  that  we  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Vassar  College  do 
hold  the  memory  of  Dr.  Jewett  in  profound  respect  because 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    187 

Dr.  John  H.  Raymond,  a  Trustee  who  had 
proved  himself  useful  in  the  organization/ 
principal  of  the  "Brooklyn  Polytechnic,*'  had 
already  been  selected  by  the  Committee  and 
was  unanimously  elected  President  at  this 
meeting.  Matthew,  Jr.,  records,  on  this  day, 
April  29,  "Meeting  this  day  Board  Trustees 
of  Vassar  F.  College  to  accept  resignation  of 
Milo  P.  Jewitt  as  President,  was  accepted 
unanimously  as  also  Trustee  of  the  same  — 
after  some  other  business  board  adjourned  to 
meet  in  June."  No  word  of  the  new  election! 
Nor  does  the  founder  refer  to  Jewett  in  his 
address  at  the  June  meeting !  So  Jewett  passes 
from  the  history.  He  says  that  this  sudden 
termination  of  his  connection  surprised  his 
friends,  but  he  gave  vague  answers  and  general 
explanations  and  allowed  nothing  to  get  into 
print.  He  rested  for  three  years,  to  reestabhsh 
his  health,  and  moved  to  Milwaukee  in  1867, 
where  he  exercised  much  influence  in  educa- 

of  his  useful  work  and  his  many  virtues,  and  do  tender  our 
heartfelt  sympathies  in  their  bereavement  to  his  family  and 
friends  of  education;  resolved,  that  the  Secretary  be,  and 
hereby  is,  instructed  to  transmit  to  the  family  of  the  deceased 
an  attested  copy  of  the  above  preambled  resolution." 
1  Cf.  Life,  p.  518. 


188      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

tional  and  religious  work  till  his  death  in  1882. 
Only  once  do  we  know  of  his  crossing  the  track 
of  Vassar's  history  again.  In  1873  he  wrote 
Dr.  Raymond,^  expressing  his  admiration  of 
the  report  on  Vassar  for  the  Vienna  Exposition 
and  his  approval  of  Dr.  Raymond's  views.  He 
sympathizes  with  him  in  the  embarrassments 
and  vexations  through  which  he  has  reached 
the  "goal,"  and  "achieved  a  triumph."  He  is 
happy  in  "the  humble  part  he  was  permitted 
to  bear  in  laying  the  foundations  and  building 
the  rough  scaffolding  of  the  grand  temple.  I 
never  could  have  overcome  the  obstacles  you 
have  vanquished  in  rearing  the  superstructure. 
Being  advised  of  these  from  year  to  year,  I 
have  long  been  persuaded  that  it  was  best  for 
myseK,  as  well  as  for  the  college,  that  I  left  in 
1864";  he  has  not  been  East,  and  hopes  in 
another  year  to  revisit  the  college. 

What  must  be  our  final  judgment  of  Dr. 
Jewett's  influence  and  of  his  plans  for  the  col- 
lege? And  what  of  the  charges  made  by  him 
and  against  him.? 

It  seems  plain,  from  the  narrative  here  given, 

»  LiSe,  pp.  621,  622. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    189 

that  the  idea  actually  embodied  in  the  college 
was  due  to  the  suggestion  and  the  nurture  of 
Dr.  Jewett.  Every  allowance  must  be  made 
for  the  weight  of  Mr.  Vassar's  own  statements, 
already  quoted,  as  to  the  influence  of  Lydia 
Booth.  Possibly  she  had  some  dim  scheme  of 
a  college  in  mind,  or  perhaps  she  thought  of 
some  endowed  seminary  as  contrasted  with 
the  small  school  of  which  she  was  principal. 
No  one  has  quoted  from  her  a  letter  or  an 
authentic  word  which  can  sustain  more  than 
this,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  Mr. 
Vassar  had  any  view  of  the  education  of  girls 
above  the  ordinary,  when  he  met  Mr.  Jewett. 
His  first  quoted  statement  shows  nothing  more 
than  that  he  was  interested  in  "female  educa- 
tion" through  her  influence,  unless  we  take  as 
literal  the  final  words  regarding  "an  institu- 
tion like  the  one  we  now  propose."  But  that 
was  written  in  1864,  after  nine  years  of  discus- 
sion with  Dr.  Jewett;  and  in  the  early  years  of 
the  period  we  know,  from  the  contemporary 
papers  preserved  by  Dr.  Jewett,  that  Mr. 
Vassar  was  asking  for  details  of  a  novel  sug- 
gestion. Nor  can  we  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact 


190      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

that  when  Jewett's  influence  had  waned  and 
the  feehng  against  him  was  taking  shape,  it 
was  natural  for  Mr.  Vassar  to  lose  sight  of  his 
early  indebtedness  to  him  and  to  look  back  to 
his  earlier  associations  with  his  niece.  In  the 
statement  of  1866  he  says  expressly  that  the 
business  intercourse  with  his  niece  (he  owned 
her  building)  accounted  for  his  early  interest 
in  the  enlarged  education  of  women  and  the 
drift  of  his  later  conversation  and  correspond- 
ence. He  does  not  mention  Jewett,  but  we 
know  that  Jewett  was  the  man  who  wrote  the 
letters  and  deposited  the  answers  with  Vassar. 
As  has  been  said,  also,  whatever  he  had 
thought  regarding  education,  Mr.  Vassar  had 
definitely  settled  on  a  hospital,  and  had  made 
his  will  accordingly,  before  Mr.  Jewett  opened 
his  scheme  to  him. 

Dr.  Alonzo  K.  Parker,  Recorder  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  formerly  resident  in  Pough- 
keepsie,  and  accustomed  to  hear  M.  Vassar, 
Jr.,  and  his  father  discuss  all  matters  of  interest 
to  the  family,  says  that  one  form  of  Mr. 
Vassar's  earlier  idea  was  a  scheme  for  indigent 
females.  The  pupils  were  to  learn  to  wash  and 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    191 

sew  and  cook,  and  do  housework.  This  he 
thinks  preceded  Dr.  Jewett's  coming,  and  it 
was  probably  one  of  the  many  projects  that  in 
turn  appealed  to  this  rich  man  who  would 
spend  his  money  wisely  for  posterity.  But  Dr. 
Jewett  was  a  man  of  experience  in  colleges  and 
schools,  and  he  saw  now  a  great  opportunity. 
His  thought  was  not  of  a  great  school^  as 
Charles  Raymond  derisively  said,  but  of  a 
large  college^  equipped  far  better  and  more 
fully  endowed  than  any  but  the  largest  and 
best  of  our  contemporary  American  colleges. 
He  had  the  vision  of  a  distinguished  and  able 
faculty,  of  endowments,  of  abundant  appara- 
tus, a  large  library,  a  museum,  an  art  gallery, 
a  building  supplying  comforts  unknown  in  the 
institutions  of  the  day,  and  surrounded  by  a 
park  attractive  to  the  eye  and  inviting  to 
exercise.  His  early  papers  form  a  remarkable 
ideal  for  the  epoch  before  1860,  and  Jewett  was 
right  in  his  claim  that  no  such  institution 
existed.  His  plan  promised  far  more  for  a  girl 
than  even  OberKn  could  offer,  or  than  the 
Southern  colleges  had  dreamed  of.  It  was  a 
development,  but  it  was  new,  and  it  prophesied 


192      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

a  new  day  for  woman,  whether  in  coeducational 
or  separate  colleges. 

The  founder,  shrewd,  able,  intelligent,  and  as- 
piring, quickly  grasped  the  ideal,  though  often 
in  a  limited  way,  and  gradually  worked  out  his 
views  broadly  and  soundly  under  Dr.  Jewett's 
constant  teaching.  Why  should  it  be  thought 
needful  for  his  honor  that  the  claim  be  made  that 
a  self-educated  man,  who  had  never  had  any  oc- 
casion to  study  an  educational  problem,  should 
of  his  own  notion  have  struck  out  an  idea  which 
was  to  mark  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  college 
education  and  in  the  development  of  woman? 

It  may  be  asked,  at  this  point,  if  Mrs. 
Vassar  herself  had  been  an  influence  contribu- 
tory to  an  educational  interest.  Inquiry  among 
surviving  relatives  entirely  negatives  any  such 
suggestion.  She  had  no  interest  whatever  in 
her  husband's  new  scheme,  though  she  sur- 
vived till  it  was  well  advanced.^  She  was  care- 
ful of  her  home  and  devoted  solely  to  it,  a 
precise  and  economical  housekeeper  without 
any  wider  interests,  and  somewhat  eccentric, 
in  the  view  of  her  neighbors. 

»  The  begmning  of  1863. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    193 

The  founder's  view  of  his  debt  to  Dr.  Jewett 
must  not  be  inferred  from  the  letter  which  fol- 
lowed Jewett's  "cruel"  references  to  him,  nor 
from  his  omission  of  all  later  mention  of  him. 
We  must  recall  the  letter  of  Thanksgiving  Day 
of  1860,^  his  acknowledgment  "from  the  very 
depths  of  his  heart"  of  "his  sincere  and  ingen- 
uous friendship"  and  his  references  to  the 
"Great  Enterprise."  Indeed,  the  founder's 
remarkable  letter  to  Mr.  Kelly  is  itself  the 
frank  statement,  even  in  the  hour  of  with- 
drawing his  confidence  from  Jewett,  that  he  had 
had  it  "to  an  unlimited  extent,"  and  though 
he  regrets  that  he  must  now  admit  that  Jewett 
has  not  been  the  rehance  that  he  had  expected, 
he  makes  it  plain  that  he  had  fully  trusted  him 
and  depended  on  him.  He  minimizes,  too,  the 
influences  which  have  proved  steadily  antago- 
nistic to  Jewett  and  have  attempted  to  under- 
mine his  influence  on  the  founder,  asserting 
that  Mr.  Jewett  has  been  entirely  mistaken  as 
to  the  extent  or  violence  of  the  prejudice  of 
members  of  the  Executive  Committee  against 
him.   This  could  not  have  been,  without  his 

*  See  ante,  p.  118. 


194      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

knowledge,  he  asserts.  Indeed,  it  is  extremely 
likely  that  Dr.  Jewett  did  exaggerate  the  degree 
of  this  feeling  against  him,  —  and  he  was 
apparently  given  to  strong  expression  of  his 
feelings.  Nevertheless,  we  know  how  virulent 
were  the  expressions  in  the  diary  of  M.  Vassar, 
Jr.;  we  know  that  Charles  Raymond  had 
talked  and  written  constantly  for  two  years, 
to  the  founder  and  to  Mr.  Swan,  letters  in- 
tended to  undermine  all  faith  in  the  abihty 
or  the  goodness,  even,  of  Dr.  Jewett.  We  know 
that  as  far  back  as  1860  Mr.  Vassar  wrote 
Jewett  that  the  "great  enterprise"  had  cost 
him  the  friendship  of  many,  even  of  **  some  of 
the  family  friends  because  of  what  I  am  doing.'* 
It  is  not  likely  that  this  feeUng  omitted  as  its ' 
object  the  recognized  cause  of  the  novel  plan. 
Nor  can  we  forget  the  effort  to  divert  at  least 
a  part  of  Mr.  Vassar's  interest  to  other  pro- 
jects and  his  anger  when  he  saw  what  was 
implied  in  it  as  to  the  founding  of  the  college. 
These  facts  were  all  known  to  Jewett,  and  he 
knew  too  well  that  these  influences  exerted 
themselves,  directly  and  indirectly,  on  the 
founder.   It  is  not  strange  that  the  irritation 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    195 

grew  with  the  years  until,  as  Jewett  wrote 
Nathan  Bishop,  he  was  sick  in  body,  mind, 
and  heart.  And  that  was  his  undoing. 

That  he  was  wrong,  hopelessly  wrong,  in  his 
unseemly  reflections  on  the  founder,  and  that 
the  latter  was  cruelly  hurt,  there  can  be  no 
question.  The  assumption  that  Mr.  Vassar 
was  perfect  is  not  essential  to  prove  that.  We 
are  far  enough  away  from  the  event  to  recog- 
nize, without  unfitting  reflections  on  the  man, 
that  a  degree  of  uncertainty  and  vacillation 
might  have  been  expected  amid  the  difiiculties 
involved  in  his  great  plan,  especially  for  one 
unused  to  the  annoying  details  of  an  educa- 
tional organization.  Dr.  Brackett,  once  Mr. 
Vassar's  pastor,  wrote  in  1880  to  Jewett,  com- 
mending his  manuscript  narrative  in  general, 
but  advising  him  against  occasional  harsh 
expressions  regarding  the  founder  and  others. 
They  are,  indeed,  singularly  few,  considering 
what  Jewett  thought  his  provocation.  Dr. 
Brackett  tells  him  the  founder  has  been  canon- 
ized, and  while  freely  acknowledging  the  very 
faults  Jewett  has  specified,  bids  him  "deal 
more  gently  with  our  idol."  He  would  tell  only 


196      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

so  much  unpleasant  truth  as  is  needful  for  a 
righteous  cause.  And  that,  indeed,  is  enough ! 
Mr.  Vassar  needs  no  false  apology.  He  had  the 
defects  of  character  which  might  have  been 
expected  in  a  hard-working  man  who  had 
slowly  raised  himself  from  poverty  to  great 
wealth,  but  he  grasped  a  great  idea  and  it 
elevated  him,  developed  him,  exalted  his  quali- 
ties, and  sanctified  him.  None  the  less  was  it 
true,  that  in  those  days  of  progress  his  compan- 
ion found  many  a  day  of  difficulty  and  failures 
and  seeming  wreck  of  the  great  plan.  Mr. 
Vassar  was  truly  great  because  he  welcomed 
and  used  a  great  idea,  but  he  was  not  devoid 
of  greatness  who  could  inspire  him  with  it,  and 
hold  his  confidence  through  the  developments 
of  nine  active  years. 

Nor  did  Mr.  Jewett's  criticism  destroy  his 
affection  for  Mr.  Vassar  nor  his  admiration  of 
his  sterling  qualities.  Early  in  this  history  we 
found  him  making  a  similar  criticism,  in  a 
private  letter,^  but  it  had  not  destroyed  his 
esteem  for  him,  —  and  in  all  the  later  writing 
of  Jewett  there  is  no  trace  of  bitterness.   He 

*  See  ante,  p.  161. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    197 

thought,  indeed,  that  Mr.  Kelly  had  reconciled 
Mr.  Vassar  to  him,  and  the  founder  says  he 
was  mistaken  in  this;  but  Jewett's  letter  is  of 
the  same  approximate  date,  and  if  there  was 
misunderstanding,  both  may  have  been  at 
fault. 

Jewett  was  enthusiastic,  sanguine,  full  of 
gentleness  and  pity,  but  in  those  days,  we 
fancy,  blazing  into  wrath  under  provocation, 
roseate  in  his  views,  seeing  matters  somewhat 
as  he  wished  to,  free  in  his  expressions,  not  over- 
cautious. But  his  work  was  set  above  himself, 
if  one  can  trust  his  testimony  and  the  story  of 
his  life.  He  impressed  Dr.  Parker  as  a  man  of 
ideas,  sagacious,  capable.  Dr.  Nathan  Wood, 
closely  related  to  him  in  Milwaukee  and  inti- 
mately knowing  his  life  and  spirit,  character- 
izes him  as  *'one  of  the  most  refined  and 
cultivated  Christian  gentlemen  whom  I  have 
ever  known,"  and  says,  "I  have  never  met 
his  equal  for  the  utter  charm  of  his  felicitous 
English  speech  in  private  conversation."  He 
never  spoke  "in  malice  or  heat"  regarding  his 
opponents:  "his  spirit  was  catholic,  genial, 
kindly.  Christian."   Nothing  he  ever  knew  of 


% 


198      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

him  could  suggest  his  weakness  in  writing  the 
fatal  letter,  so  admirable  was  his  poise,  so 
equable  his  temper.  Dr.  Wood  could  not  have 
accepted  the  fact  but  for  Jewett's  own  state- 
ment. "He  must  have  been  tried  beyond 
endurance.  He  was  surely  the  ideal  gentle- 
man."i 

Milo  P.  Jewett  deserves  the  credit  of  origin- 
ating in  Mr.  Vassar's  mind  the  impulse  and 
conviction  which  resulted  in  Vassar  College. 
He  not  only  nurtured  the  seed,  —  he  planted 
it.  He  wrote  out  the  descriptions  of  what  a 
college  should  be  for  Mr.  Vassar's  quiet  read- 
ing, met  his  shrewd  objections,  encouraged  his 
liberal  views  of  woman's  powers  and  oppor- 
tunities, led  him  to  make  his  will  founding 
the  college,  then  encouraged  and  vivified  Mr. 
Vassar's  earlier  purpose  to  realize  his  aims  in 
his  lifetime,  sketched  plans  with  him  of  build- 
ings, grounds,  equipment,  curriculum,  urged 
him  to  form  his  board  of  trustees,  and  then,  a 
culminating  stroke,  induced  him  to  place  the 
funds  in  its  hands.  Only  those  who  knew  Mr. 

*  Letter,  November  25,  1912.  Cf.  also  Memorial  Volume, 
—  funeral  addresses,  etc. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    199 

Vassar  well,  and  knew  of  the  long  struggle  of 
acquisition,  could  understand  the  cost  of  that 
decision  and  action  to  the  founder.  It  was 
described  to  the  writer  by  Mr.  Swan,  —  and  it 
was  an  heroic  action. 

When  Mr.  Jewett  resigned,  then,  the  idea 
had  become  thus  far  real :  A  board  of  trustees 
of  able  men  had  been  gathered :  Hon.  William 
Kelly,  master  of  the  famous  estate  of  EUerslie, 
formerly  State  Senator,  was  chairman;  Ira 
Harris,  United  States  Senator  from  New  York; 
James  Harper,  the  publisher;  Anderson  and 
Robinson,  of  Rochester,  distinguished  edu- 
cators; John  H.  Raymond,  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Polytechnic;  well-known  clergymen  like 
Edward  Lathrop  and  Dr.  Magoon  and  William 
Hague;  Nathan  Bishop,  Superintendent  of 
Schools  in  both  Providence  and  Boston,  an 
LL.D.  of  Harvard,  chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  famous  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion; the  historian  Lossing;  Morse,  the  inventor 
of  the  telegraph,  —  were  among  them.  A  farm 
of  two  hundred  acres  had  been  acquired,  and 
through  the  years  of  the  war  an  extraordinary 
building  had  been  erected,  said  to  have  been 


200      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

then  the  largest  under  a  single  roof  in  the  entire 
land;  another  for  a  riding  school  and  gymna- 
sium, and  another  for  an  observatory;  the  next 
to  the  largest  telescope  in  the  country  had  been 
set  up,i  and  apparatus  purchased  in  consider- 
able quantities;  a  creditable  museum  had  been 
begun  and  an  art  gallery  purchased  by  Mr. 
Vassar  (announced  in  June)  from  Elias  Ma- 
goon,  at  what  was  then  the  great  price  of  $20,- 
000;  2  a  curriculum  had  been  worked  out,  —  a 
novel  plan  in  the  North;  and  nominations  for 
several  professorships  were  in  the  President's 
hands.  All  that  had  been  achieved  when  Dr. 
Jewett  proposed  to  the  Board  to  open  the  col- 
lege that  fall  of  1864,  and  he  continued  to  be- 
lieve that  it  might  have  been  done.  It  was  a 
great  achievement  for  the  three  years  of  his 
presidency,  nearly  one  of  which  was   spent 

*  Communications,  June  30,  1863. 

'  In  September  and  October,  1864,  Mr.  Vassar  writes 
Magoon  very  plainly  about  illustrations,  engravings,  etc., 
which  Magoon  is  returning  and  offering  now  to  sell  to  him! 
His  letter  of  October  6  shows  the  character  of  the  purchase  he 
had  made,  in  Magoon 's  "own  language."  The  founder  reminds 
him  that  the  "valve"  of  what  he  bought  has  "nothing  to  do 
with  the  question"  —  "the  quantity  has";  protests  his  trust 
and  friendship,  but  insists  on  his  rights.  Cf .  letter,  October 
10,  1864. 


JEWETT'S  ADMINISTRATION    201 

abroad.  But  the  failure  to  carry  his  plan  in 
February,  1864,  was  followed  by  the  discovery 
of  the  fatal  letter,  and  he  resigned,  after  nomi- 
nating as  his  successor  John  Howard  Ray- 
mond, a  member  of  the  Board. 


THE    RECEPTION    OF   MATTHEW   VASSAR's   PLAN 

That  there  was  no  general  interest  in  the  col- 
lege education  of  women,  and  that  there  was 
very  Uttle  provision  for  it  before  Mr.  Vassar 
announced  his  plan,  has  been  made  amply 
clear  by  our  survey  of  the  movement  prior  to 
1860.  The  notion  of  a  real  college  for  girls, 
amply  equipped,  had  scarcely  found  expression, 
and  to  most,  Mr.  Vassar  seemed  the  originator 
of  the  work,  the  very  first  to  grasp  the  fact 
that  women  were  capable  of  the  highest  educa- 
tion and  had  an  inherent  right  to  it.  Even  to 
the  few  who  were  familiar  with  the  pioneer 
movements,  the  breadth  of  his  views  and  aims, 
and  his  willingness  to  give  a  fortune  to  make 
them  realities,  ranked  him  with  the  discover- 
ers. But  for  that  very  reason  it  was  inevitable 
that  discussion  of  his  plans  should  result  in 
diversity  of  opinion,  and  that  the  novelty 
which  threatened,  if  it  did  not  secure,  a  change 
in  the  whole  position  of  women,  should  find 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    203 

expression  in  fear  and  criticism  as  well  as 
praise. 

That  Mr.  Vassar  and  Dr.  Jewett  anticipated 
criticism  is  evident  from  the  letters  we  have, 
as  is  also  their  satisfaction  at  the  general 
chorus  of  approval.  The  material  at  hand, 
however,  is  not  as  abundant  as  might  be 
expected.  The  large  correspondence  with  edu- 
cators, at  home  and  abroad,  was  probably 
destroyed  with  the  founder's  papers :  at  least  it 
has  not  yet  been  found.  Copies  of  a  few  letters 
are  preserved  in  a  manuscript  volume  prepared 
under  Mr.  Vassar's  direction,  and  a  few  were 
kept  because  of  their  connection  with  some 
other  specific  business.  Through  the  news- 
papers of  1860  and  1861,  and  later,  occasional 
articles  are  found,  but  it  was  "war-time,"  and 
the  interests  of  the  Union  absorbed  men,  and 
educational  discussions  were  rarer  than  they 
would  otherwise  have  been.  Mr.  Vassar  him- 
self kept  a  scrapbook,  now  in  the  college  library, 
and  many  articles  have  thus  been  preserved, 
not  always  dated  and  sometimes  even  giving 
no  indication  of  their  source.  From  these, 
however,  and  from  a  few  articles  from  maga- 


204      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

zines,  we  may  gain  illustrations,  if  we  follow 
them  chronologically,  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
public  when  the  plan  was  announced,  and  as 
the  building  advanced  and  the  college  was  made 
ready  for  the  opening. 

"Godey's  Lady's  Book"  was  a  popular 
magazine  of  that  early  period  and  for  many 
years  enjoyed  the  editorial  direction  of  Mrs. 
Sarah  Jane  Hale,  whose  interest  in  woman's 
education  and  in  Mr.  Vassar's  scheme  was 
intense,  and  to  whom  the  college  owed  the 
suggestion  that  the  word  "female"  be  dropped 
from  its  title.  Scattered  through  the  numbers 
of  this  periodical,  which  dealt  in  an  even- 
handed  way  with  literature,  education,  ques- 
tions of  morals  and  rehgion,  domestic  economy, 
and  the  fashions  of  dress  (amply  illustrated 
with  plates  which  have  their  value  for  the 
student  of  social  hfe),  are  discussions  of  the 
specific  demand  of  woman  for  a  better  educa- 
tion. Far  back  of  this  period,  in  1839,^  we  are 
told  of  the  great  interest  in  America  in  the 
"education  of  females,"  of  the  opening  of  the 
institution  at  Macon,  Georgia,  and  in  1840^ 

»  Vol.  19,  p.  190.  '  Vol.  20,  p.  281. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    205 

we  have  a  plea  for  woman's  education.  In 
1855  ^  we  read  of  the  many  "colleges"  poor  in 
endowment  and  with  scanty  libraries,  but 
notable  as  expressing  a  demand,  and  in  1856 
(January)  complaint  is  made  that  no  public 
provision  has  been  made  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  girls,  and  Elmira  is  hailed  ^  as  about  to 
open  "on  the  largest  and  most  generous  scale.'* 
In  1860  3  we  read,  "Scarcely  a  week  passes 
without  bringing  us  some  cheering  intelligence 
on  this  subject.  .  .  .  Among  these  last  em- 
bryo institutions  is  that  of  Mr.  Vassar,  of 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  We  learn  that  he 
has  determined  to  establish  and  endow  an 
institution  for  the  college  education  of  young 
women.  .  .  .  The  plan  contemplates  a  course 
of  study  similar  to  that  which  is  pursued  in  the 
leading  coUeges."  On  the  same  page  is  a  ref- 
erence to  Willard  Seminary,  stating  that  no 
attention  is  yet  given  to  household  science, 
but  the  Mount  St.  Vincent  (Roman  Catholic) 
Seminary  is  soon  to  atone  for  the  neglect  of  it. 
Mr.  Vassar  wrote  Mrs.  Hale  a  letter  regard- 

1  Godey's  Lady's  Book,  vol.  50,  p.  368. 
»  Vol.  62,  p.  372.       »  Vol.  61,  p.  368. 


206      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ing  his  aims,  in  May,  1860,  and  later  Dr. 
Jewett  himself  furnished  her  with  material. 

By  March  20  of  1860,  it  is  evident  that 
rumors  enough  were  afloat,  many  of  them 
unfounded,  to  call  forth  an  authorized  state- 
ment, for  the  Poughkeepsie  "  Telegraph  "  ^  pub- 
lishes an  account  of  Mr.  Vassar's  plans,  by 
permission,  for  the  sake  of  correcting  misap- 
prehensions and  dissipating  vague  speculations, 
and  the  "Eagle"  reprinted  this  (March  24) 
with  high  commendation  and  with  the  pious 
wish  that  the  founder  may  live  to  see  in  success- 
ful operation  "the  pride  and  glory  of  Pough- 
keepsie, an  honor  to  the  Empire  State  and  a 
blessing  to  our  country  and  to  the  world,  as  it 
will  bean  enduring  monument  to  his  memory." ^ 

It  is  of  very  particular  interest  to  discover, 
at  this  very  date  (March,  1860)  in  a  local  paper, 
a  reference  to  the  very  dramatic  episode  re- 
ferred to  in  the  earlier  chapter  which  imperiled 
the  foundations  of  Dr.  Jewett's  scheme.  It 
recites  the  introduction  into  the  Legislature  of 

^  The  article  states  that  Mr.  Vassar  had  submitted  his  views 
to  prominent  educators  "something  over  three  years  ago." 

*  This  is  quoted  also  by  Dr.  Rufus  Babcock  in  an  article  in 
the  ChrUtian  Watchman  of  Boston. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    207 

bills  to  incorporate  certain  institutions  in  the 
city,  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  and  a  Ubrary, 
and  states  that  "the  movement  then  set  on 
foot  was  premature."  "We  could  not  bring 
ourselves  to  believe  that  Mr.  Vassar  had  aban- 
doned the  plans  for  an  enterprise  which  had 
so  long  absorbed  his  purpose."  That  sounds 
like  the  voice  of  Jewett.^ 

Doubtless  views  less  favorable  were  ex- 
pressed to  the  founder,  but  the  records  of  them 
have  for  the  most  part  disappeared.  We  have 
one  reminder  of  such  opinions  in  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  William  Chambers,  the  dis- 
tinguished Edinburgh  pubhsher  and  philan- 
thropist. He  had  been  consulted  as  to  the 
desirabihty  of  such  an  undertaking.  Mr. 
Chambers  replied  that  the  proposal  to  endow 
an  institution  of  a  high  class  for  board  and 
education  of  several  hundred  young  ladies 
filled  him  with  astonishment  and  consterna- 
tion. "I  cannot  imagine  such  a  thing.  Board- 
ing-schools with  but  thirty  girls  are  diflBcult  to 
manage  satisfactorily,  and  much  above  a  hun- 
dred in  a  day  academy  is  impracticable.    It 

*  From  the  Scrapbook. 


208      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

has  been  by  exercising  a  marvelous  degree  of 
vigilance  and  discipline,  such  as  you  could  not 
carry  out  among  your  high-spirited  and  highly 
dressed  republican  young  ladies,  that  the 
Scottish  Institution  has  been  attended  with 
success."  He  recommends  him  to  pause  and 
consider  whether  he  might  not  modify  his 
benevolently  conceived  scheme,  which  he  fears 
would  never  work  to  his  satisfaction  or  be 
creditable  to  his  good  name.  A  safer  invest- 
ment, he  thinks,  would  be  a  seminary  for  the 
blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  or  the  weak  in 
intellect!  ^ 

On  the  day  the  bill  for  the  charter  was  intro- 
duced (late  in  1860)  the  "Times"  (New  York) 
published  a  communication ^  asking,  "What  do 
you  think  of  a  Woman's  College?  And  why 
not?  After  Allopathic,  Homoeopathic  and 
Hydropathic  and  patent-pill  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  why  not 
let  the  girls  have  one?  Sure  enough,  why  not? 

*  Quoted  in  part  from  the  founder's  book  of  copies,  from 
his  own  letter  to  S.  Austin  AUibone,  March  26,  1862,  but  in 
fuller  detail  from  a  note  of  the  author's  made  years  since  from 
an  unremembered  source.  The  letter  was  written  in  1858. 

•  Scrapbook. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    209 

For  the  life  of  me,  I  do  not  discover  any  valid 
objection.  But  objection  or  no  objection,  the 
thing  is  to  be."  Then,  after  mentioning  a  few 
of  the  proposed  trustees,  the  writer  adds,  "The 
said  college  is  to  have  full  power  to  educate 
feminines  and  grant  them  sheepskins."  "Mr. 
Vassar  is  a  famous  brewer  of  Poughkeepsie. 
He  has  thrived  and  so  wants  to  perpetuate  his 
memory." 

While  action  on  the  charter  was  pending,  the 
"Post"  (New  York)  tells  of  the  purpose  of  the 
school.  It  is  not  to  be  an  ordinary  boarding- 
school,  but  to  be  "conducted  with  a  view  to 
convey  solid  instruction,"  and  the  article  is  a 
defense  of  this  purpose.  "How  much  igno- 
rance is  required  in  a  woman  to  induce  and 
sustain  proper  female  delicacy,  is  a  question 
that  has  never  been  answered."  Her  sphere 
is  enlarging,  and  education  must  keep  pace. 
Mary  Lyon's  exertions  cannot  be  too  highly 
honored,  but  more  is  required.  There  may  be 
sex  in  mind,  indeed,  but  who  has  decided  what 
sciences  and  pursuits  are  proper  for  the  female 
intellect?  So  the  project  receives  high  praise.^ 
^  Scrapbook. 


210      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

At  the  same  time  "Moore's  Rural  New 
York,"  a  most  influential  weekly,  sketches  the 
plan.  "We  congratulate  our  female  readers" 
on  this  equal  opportunity.  The  article,  which 
commends  Mr.  Vassar  for  doing  this  in  his  life- 
time, has  much  to  say  on  the  advantage  of 
giving  the  sons  of  the  rich  or  well-to-do  a  solid 
training,  Hke  the  poor  boy's,  and  the  writer 
would  put  the  daughters  in  a  similar  position 
and  secure  them  against  those  direst  foes  to  fe- 
male happiness — ^professional  fortune-hunters.  ^ 

"Harper's  Weekly "'^  also  refers  to  the 
scheme  before  the  Legislature  and  says,  "the 
imbecile  sneer  at  *  learned  women'  will  sink 
into  the  proper  contempt."  Like  Mr.  Cooper, 
Mr.  Vassar  will  see  his  plan  develop  as  he 
intends,  into  nothing  less  than  a  university  for 
women.'  On  January  16,  1861,  —  the  bill  still 
pending,  —  the  "  World "  (New  York)  com- 
mends the  wisdom  of  the  founder  in  carrying 
out  his  intentions  and  in  concentrating  his 
efforts  by  endowing  one  institution  liberally. 
"We  bid  godspeed  to  Mr.  Vassar  in  his  great 
work  and  hail  him  as  a  wise  and  liberal  bene- 

*  Scrapbook.     '  January  7,  1861.     '  Scrapbook. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    211 

factor  of  our  own  and  coming  times."  The  col- 
lege bids  fair  to  stand  alone  in  its  liberal  pro- 
visions and  purpose,  in  contrast  with  the 
scanty  endowments  which  compel  the  sacrifice 
of  teachers  in  almost  every  institution.^ 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1861,  the  Senate 
passed  the  bill  incorporating  the  college,  and 
the  Assembly  followed  on  the  17th.  ^  A  letter 
written  that  day  to  the  Tuscola  "Pioneer,"  of 
Vassar,  Michigan,  whose  editor  was  especially 
interested  in  Poughkeepsie  and  in  Mr.  Vassar, 
throws  an  interesting  light  on  a  debate  which 
preceded  the  final  action.  Mr.  Kiernan  had 
objected  to  the  eighth  section  allowing  Mr. 
Vassar  to  bestow  any  portion  of  his  fortune  on 
the  institution,  as  in  conflict  with  a  law  passed 
the  previous  year  Hmiting  such  bequests,  in 
ordinary  conditions,  to  one  half  the  estate.  ^ 
Mr.  Pierce  replied  in  a  notable  speech,  with  a 
full  explanation  of  the  scheme  and  the  special 
circumstances  leading  to  this  provision,  stating 
that  there  were  no  children  and  the  near  rela- 


*  Scrapbook.  Copied  also  in  Telegraph,  January  22,  1861. 

*  Eagle,  January  15,  and  18;  Herald,  January  18. 
»  Laws,  1860,  chap.  360. 


212      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED; 

lives  were  already  amply  endowed,  and  plead- 
ing that  "not  one  single  college  for  the  educa- 
tion of  young  women  has  yet  been  established 
in  the  United  States."  Mr.  Kiernan  withdrew 
his  objection,  and  Mr.  Rice,  speaking  for  the 
Democracy,  declared  that,  while  they  were 
disagreed  as  to  the  state  of  the  Union,  they 
could  all  unite  in  the  interests  of  the  youth  of 
the  Commonwealth.  ^  Only  by  running  through 
the  columns  of  a  metropolitan  journal  of  that 
day,  and  noting  the  absorption  of  the  Legisla- 
ture and  the  people  in  the  "state  of  the  Union" 
can  one  appreciate  the  force  of  that  utterance.  ^ 
Comments  on  the  project  are  more  numerous 
after  this.  The  Albany  "Evening  Journal" 
publishes  an  article  that  was  probably  inspired 
by  President  Jewett.  It  is  quoted  at  length  in 
the  "Eagle"  of  January  %%  1861,  and  tells 
who  Mr.  Vassar  is,  his  connection  with  Thomas 
Guy,  of  Guy  Hospital,  his  plan  to  do  for  women 
what  Harvard  and  Yale  do  for  men,  outlines 
the  scheme  of  education,  and  says  the  college 

*  Scrapbook. 

'  The  charter  was  printed  by  the  Telegraph,  January  22. 
The  Herald's  comment  has  already  been  quoted  (chapter  on 
"Inception,"  etc.,  p.  121.) 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    213 

is  already  under  contract  and  is  to  cost  $180,- 
000,  and  is  to  have  a  library  of  10,000  volumes; 
—  its  architects  were,  first,  Tefft,  and  then, 
Renwick.  It  is  not  to  be  a  charity.  Mr.  Vassar 
is  eulogized,  and  his  gift  spoken  of  as  the  larg- 
est ever  made  in  this  country  by  a  living  man. 

The  New  York  "Tribune'*  discussed  the 
project  editorially,^  pointing  out  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  a  girl's  education  and  Mr. 
Vassar 's  practical  handling  of  them:  "A  want 
which  society  has  deeply  felt  and  which  was  a 
reproach  to  our  modern  civilization  is  amply 
provided  for."  "  It  begins  a  new  era  for  woman 
of  which  we  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  she 
will  be  sure  to  avail  herself."'' 

The  comments  now  are  from  widely  scattered 
sections.  From  Kansas,  then  so  far  away, 
comes  the  laudation  of  the  founder  and  his 
purpose;^  from  Detroit  the  praise  of  the  "mag- 
nificent charity";*  from  Waltham,  Massachu- 
setts, a  strong  argument  for  the  right  of  woman 
to  education  (signed,  "T.  J.");  from  Phila- 

»  January  28,  1861. 

*  Scrapbook.    The  Telegraph  of  January  29  gives  well- 
chosen  extracts. 

•  Ellwood  Free  Press.  *  Advertiser. 


214      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

delphia  an  encomium  on  the  gift  and  the  wis- 
dom of  making  it  during  the  giver's  Hfe.  "The 
object  is  a  noble  one,"  and  it  is  hoped  that 
"the  proper  bounds  to  female  education" 
"will  be  fully  studied,"  since  "the  minds  of 
females  are  in  many  respects  unlike  those  of 
men,"  and  "it  follows  clearly  from  this  that 
a  different  education  is  needed  for  each."  But 
as  yet  there  has  not  appeared  "a  philosophical 
treatise  in  which  the  kinds  of  instruction  are 
deduced  from  the  structure  of  the  minds  of 
women  and  the  position  to  be  filled  by  them 
in  Society."  Never  has  there  been  such  an 
opportunity  as  this.^ 

"  Harper's  Weekly  "  returns  to  the  subject,  in 
March  (30th),  and  illustrates  its  article  with  a 
picture  of  the  proposed  building  and  another  of 
Mr.  Vassar  presenting  his  funds  to  the  Trustees. 
That  first  epochal  meeting  was  noted  in  many 
papers,  and  the  Boston  "Journal"  remarks  it 
as  the  largest  gift  ever  made  by  a  living  man, 
except  Peter  Cooper,  and  perhaps  Peabody.^ 

^  These  all  from  the  Scrapbook. 

*  The  Telegraph,  March  5 ;  The  Press,  the  Eagle,  the  Chron- 
icle (March  7),  the  Examiner. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    215 

A  variant  on  this  general  note  appears  in 
"Vanity  Fair,"^  a  serio-comic  treatment  of  the 
facts.  ^ 

Vanity  Fair  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly  under- 
stood, that  in  common  with  the  other  enormously 
advanced  minds  of  the  age,  it  offers  its  most  pro- 
nounced thanks  to  Matthew  Vassar,  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  for  his  noble  conceptions  of  female  ability 
and  his  lordly  liberality,  as  manifested  in  founding 
what  bids  fair  to  be  the  best  educational  institute 
for  the  Muslin  Sex  in  America. 

When  Vanity  Fair  sees  that  amid  all  the  motley 
millions  who  throng  our  wild  ways,  not  above  one 
man  in  a  thousand  who  gets  a  full  education, 
develops  a  truly  Genial  mind,  or  one  in  which 
Genius  and  Practical  Activity  are  always  aglow; 
and  secondly,  when  it  realizes  that  not  one  girl  in 
a  thousand  gets  such  an  education  as  the  men  in 
question  —  why  then  Vanity  Fair  thinks  it  by 
no  means  wonderful  that  the  Muslin  Sex  referred  to 
should  comparatively  seldom  show  us  those  great 
and  earnest  creators  in  art  —  those  Shakespeares 
and  Rabelaises,  and  Raphaels  —  who  are  not, 
by  the  way,  any  too  frightfully  common  among 
those  of  the  Cassimere  Denomination. 

We  wish  to  see  it  fully  and  fairly  tried  —  this 
experiment  of  giving  to  growing  girl-minds  good 
solid  pabulum  —  good  food  of  literature  not  ex- 
purgated into  the  mere  moral  broth  of  erudition 

1  February  15.  *  Scrapbook. 


216      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

—  substantial  knowledge  of  old  English  classics, 
and  with  them  those  of  Roman,  Greek,  Proven  gal, 
German,  French  and  Italian  days.  With  this  con- 
dition, we  would  like  to  see  taught  the  coseval 
history  of  men  and  of  art  —  architecture,  painting, 
music,  and  every  expression  of  the  Beautiful.  Not 
forgetting  the  fact  that  Life  is  —  or  may  be  —  a 
brave,  strong,  earnest  career,  full  of  great  objects, 
glorious  aims  and  not  a  mere  husband-hunt,  and 
endless  house-keeping  or  "  society  "-ing. 

This  isn't,  we  know,  Mr.  Vassar,  exactly  the 
programme  laid  down  by  most  fashionable  young 
lady  school-keepers.  But  everything  laid  down  in 
it,  excellent  Sir,  (and  much  more  with  it,  including 
healthy  physical  culture,  and  much  practical  art,) 
may  be  very  sufficiently  mastered  during  the  same 
time  now  devoted  to  what  is  by  excess  of  courtesy 
termed  "an  education."  Fact. 

We  are  under  the  impression,  Mr.  Vassar,  that 
your  institution  will  be  a  comprehensive  and  a 
progressive  one,  wherein  great  pains  will  be  taken 
to  give  not  only  a  solid  but  a  liberal  training  in 
Science,  Literature  and  Art.  If  this  be  indeed  the 
case,  we  promise  you  that  a  future  generation  will 
place  you  miles  in  glory  and  in  greatness  above 
every  Politician  of  the  age  —  no  matter  who  he 
may  be,  or  what  his  confounded  politics  may  have 
been. 

The  general  trend  of  these  articles  is  one  of 
felicitation  and  hope.    The  scheme  is  "the 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    217 

most  magnificent  tribute  of  honor  to  the  cause 
of  female  education,"  and  the  Trustees  are 
reminded  of  their  responsibihty  to  secure  the 
best  professors,  to  move  cautiously,  and  to 
expend  only  the  interest  of  their  funds.  ^  Hith- 
erto it  has  been  practically  impossible  for 
women  to  get  the  same  educational  advan- 
tages as  men,  but  a  new  and  more  auspicious 
era  has  opened.*  A  New  Haven  man  visits 
Poughkeepsie  and  writes  to  the  "Palladium"' 
an  account  of  the  college,  quoting  from  the 
founder's  address  to  the  Trustees,  on  the 
assumption  that  "few  of  your  readers  have  as 
yet  heard  of  the  institution."  The  "Country 
Gentleman"*  gives  a  cut  of  the  building  with 
its  account  of  the  proposed  equipment  of  the 
college.*^ 

The  breaking  of  ground  for  the  Main  Build- 
ing was  a  fresh  occasion  for  such  praise.*  Now 
the  rival  city  of  Newburgh  says,  through  its 
"Weekly  Times": ^  "This  indeed  is  a  princely 

^  The  Chronicle,  New  York.  *  Milwaukee. 

»  July  19.  *  June  25. 

*  Encomium  also  in  the  Boston  Post.  These  notices  are  from 
the  Scrapbook. 

•  The  Press,  June  5, 1861.  ^  August  5. 


218      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

gift  devoted  to  the  best  of  causes.  .  .  , 
Poughkeepsie,  already  justly  proud  of  her  fine 
churches,  good  schools,  and  the  Gregory 
House,  sets  an  additional  example,  worthy  of 
all  commendation.  Let  not  her  rival  sister  be 
outdone  in  any  respect."  (!) 

Now,  too,  the  interest  began  to  draw  the 
citizens  to  note  the  progress  of  the  building, 
and  strangers  come  daily,  —  with  wonder  and 
astonishment  at  its  extent,  —  and  the  local 
paper  remarks  that  it  must  be  a  pleasant 
reflection  to  the  generous  founder  that  his 
munificence  is  giving  employ  to  several  hun- 
dred men  in  these  hard  times.  ^ 

Evidently  there  was  another  side.  Mr. 
Vassar  remarks  in  August  that  public  senti- 
ment is  improving;  that  though  there  were  dis- 
couraging objections  at  first,  now  friends  are 
numerous,  and  letters  are  coming  daily  "from 
both  hemispheres"  soliciting  information.^ 
Later,  he  says,  Jewett  reports  "highest  en- 
comiums among  the  Literati."^ 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Hale  was  watching  the 

1  The  Eagle,  September,  1861.      ^  Letter  of  August  31. 
•  Letter  of  October. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    219 

situation  keenly,  and  thrice  recurs  to  the  plan 
in  "Godey's"  of  I86I.1  Two  colleges,  she  tells 
us,  are  now  in  prosperous  operation,  Wesley  an 
of  Cincinnati,  and  Vassar,  whose  endowment 
will  give  it  advantages  no  woman's  college  ever 
had.  Its  foundation  is  the  cheering  event  of 
that  year.  Extracts  from  the  founder's  address 
are  given.  It  is  hoped  to  open  the  college  in 
September,  1863.  The  course  of  study  pro- 
posed is  approved  as  especially  fitted  "  to  pre- 
pare pupils  for  the  duties  and  labors  which  fall 
within  the  peculiar  province  of  woman." 

Thus  the  first  year  since  the  charter  was 
granted  was  full  of  gratifying  praise  for  the 
founder.  *' Education"  had  asked,  through 
Professor  Youmans,  to  publish  his  views,  the 
press  in  general  had  extolled  his  motives  and 
applauded  his  project,  and  he  had  received 
great  numbers  of  commendatory  letters.^  He 

»  Vol.  63,  pp.  172,  347. 

'  Among  the  few  preserved  is  one  from  W.  R.  Bartlett, 
editor  of  the  Tuscola  Pioneer,  already  referred  to,  and  one 
from  Edward  Morton,  Jr.,  who  inveighs  in  a  rhapsodic  para- 
graph against  the  exclusion  of  his  sisters  from  his  privi- 
leges at  Harvard. 


220      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

so  tells  his  Trustees  in  his  address  at  their 
meeting  in  February,  1862.  "During  the  past 
year  we  have  the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  to 
receive  very  many  letters  from  the  most  dis- 
tinguished popular  educators  and  others,  of 
both  sexes,  in  this  country,  bearing  testimony 
to  the  noble  enterprise  of  our  undertaking, 
with  the  best  wishes  for  its  successful  issue  and 
patronage."  Whatever  objections  and  criti- 
cisms there  were,  were  smothered,  for  him, 
under  a  general  chorus  of  approval.  Indeed, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  serious  objec- 
tions would  come  later  with  the  actual  work 
of  the  completed  college. 

That  the  full  significance  of  the  movement 
was  not  appreciated  yet  may  be  inferred  from 
the  article  in  Barnard's  great  "Journal  of 
Education,"  in  March,  1862.^  It  pubhshes  a 
portrait  of  Mr.  Vassar,  but  without  marked 
appreciation  or  any  evidence  that  the  writer 
saw  in  his  plan  an  event  which  marked  an 
epoch. 

A  large  correspondence  continued  during 
this  year.  We  find  letters  from  such  men  as 
Pages  5^-56. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    221 

George  W.  Childs,  Anthony  Drexel,  Coppee, 
Dreer,  Allibone,^  all  cordial  and  approving. 
The  founder  writes,  indeed,  to  the  Honorable 
I.  R.  IngersoU,  of  Philadelphia, ^  that  some  in 
this  and  foreign  lands  express  doubt  as  to  the 
success  of  the  plan,  chiefly  because  of  its  "un- 
exampled magnitude'*;  but  unlike  Girard,  he 
will  be  his  own  executor.  Almost  daily,  he 
says,  he  is  receiving  letters  from  the  Northern 
States,  asking  about  the  plan  and  date  of 
opening.  "We  are  quite  a  star  in  these  calam- 
itous times,"  he  says  with  quiet  pleasure.' 

Of  special  mark  this  year  is  the  article  in  the 
"Post"  of  New  York,  devoted  to  the  founder's 
views  and  purposes.  The  "editors,"  we  are 
told,  had  called  on  Mr.  Vassar  with  this  aim. 

The  most  noteworthy  contribution  to  the 
history  of  this  second  year  is  an  article  in  the 
"New  Englander,"  of  October.  Moses  Coit 
Tyler  was  then  a  young,  comparatively  un- 
known clergyman,  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 

*  Volume  of  copied  letters,  —  with  a  letter  of  the  founder's, 
p.  37. 

*  March  29.  «  June.  Letter  Book,  p.  40. 


222      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

tional  Church  of  Poughkeepsie.  Profoundly 
interested  in  a  movement  in  which  he  was 
destined  to  become  a  leader  of  influence,  he 
wrote  an  article,  without  the  knowledge  of  any- 
individual  among  the  Trustees,  he  tells  us,  on 
"Vassar  Female  College." 

He  is  uncertain  as  to  the  result,  but  the  act 
of  Mr.  Vassar  is  deserving  of  the  highest  praise. 
However,  he  cherishes  hope  for  it  and  faith. 
Yet  the  venture  is  "on  a  sea  not  yet  fully 
explored,"  and  where  some  navigators  have 
already  gone  down. 

He  describes  the  plant  at  length  in  some- 
what rhetorical  language,  and  adds  that  "  Mr. 
Vassar  has  done  his  part  and  done  it  nobly, 
but  the  important  thing  yet  remains." 

He  defines  the  needs  of  a  college  as  distinct 
from  the  private  enterprises  and  female  insti- 
tutes, etc.  He  sees  the  great  call  for  endowment 
over  and  above  anything  that  Mr.  Vassar  has 
thus  far  done:  so  much  of  it  has  gone  into  the 
building  and  grounds! 

The  "home  principle,"  the  housing  of  the 
girls  as  well  as  teaching  them,  the  plan  "to 
furnish  them  with  beds  as  well  as  natural  his- 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    223 

tory  cabinets,  to  do  their  washing  and  ironing 
as  well  as  their  astronomy  and  logic,"  he  says 
has  been  provocative  of  much  discussion,  ob- 
jection, and  wit.  He  himself  doubted,  but  has 
been  converted.  Professor  Alpheus  Crosby, 
in  the  "Massachusetts  Teacher,"  September, 
1861,  comprehensively  stated  objections,  speak- 
ing of  the  boarding-school  or  convent,  of  the 
scheme  as  worthless  and  needless,  of  the  vexa- 
tions,  annoyances,   expense,  etc.,   involved.* 

*  In  the  Massachusetts  Teacher  for  August,  1861,  the  leading 
article  is  entitled,  "Vassar  Female  College."  The  magazine 
was  edited  by  a  diflFerent  man  each  month,  and  for  this  month 
the  editor  was  Alpheus  Crosby,  the  well-known  Greek  scholar, 
later  professor  at  Dartmouth.  The  article  gives  Mr.  Vassar's 
full  statement  to  his  trustees  and  Dr.  Hague's  reply,  with  an 
account  of  the  funds  and  the  plan  so  far  as  made.  It  regards 
"the  establishment  of  an  institution  for  higher  female  educa- 
tion on  so  liberal  a  plan  and  with  so  ample  an  endowment  as 
an  event  of  the  greatest  moment  in  that  career  of  mental  and 
social  progress  which  forms  the  especial  characteristic  and 
glory  of  our  age."  Mr.  Jewett,  it  is  said,  graduated  from  Dart- 
mouth in  1828  "with  excellent  reputation  as  a  scholar  and  a 
man";  "and  has  since  been  chiefly  devoted  to  the  promotion 
of  female  education.  This  united  with  his  other  qualifications 
gives  an  especial  appropriateness  to  the  appointment.  We  are 
happy  to  welcome  him  to  so  noble  a  field  of  labor."  In  the 
same  magazine  for  September,  1861,  there  is  an  article  on 
"University  Education  for  Women,"  signed  A.  C,  from  the 
pen  of  Alpheus  Crosby.  It  is  a  consideration  of  a  "circular  of 
questions"  issued  by  "the  newly  elected  President  of  Vassar 
Female  College."   It  takes  up  these  questions  in  detail,  an- 


224      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Mr.  Tyler  argues  against  the  leaving  of  these 
girls  to  look  up  boarding-houses  in  the  city, 

swering  that  as  to  aim  and  scope  it  would  make  it  a  university 
with  advantages  equal  to  those  found  in  the  best  universities 
for  men;  as  to  faculty,  it  must  now  be  made  up  of  men  and 
women,  but  will  eventually  consist  probably  wholly  of  women; 
as  to  the  course  of  study,  it  answers  that  not  years,  but  attain- 
ments should  be  the  requirement.  It  would  require  Latin,  but 
would  make  the  other  ancient  languages  elective.  French 
should  be  required  and  the  other  modem  languages  offered. 
In  other  respects  it  follows  in  the  main  the  general  course  of  the 
colleges  of  the  day,  putting  great  emphasis,  however,  on 
the  philosophy  and  art  of  education.  "  Let  the  college  be  in  the 
best  and  true  sense  a  Normal  School."  Domestic  science, 
the  art  of  conversation,  and  manners,  are  best  taught  at  home, 
though  much  can  be  done  in  an  institution.  Dancing,  it 
answers,  should  be  encouraged;  as  to  the  education  of  day 
scholars,  it  expresses  regret  at  the  whole  "home  scheme," 
in  the  language  here  quoted.  It  urges  a  change  on  the  part  of 
the  founder  and  the  President  and  the  other  Trustees,  saving 
the  money  for  the  educational  work.  If  it  is  too  late  for  this  it 
would  admit  day  scholars,  "unless,  as  in  some  English  institu- 
tions, the  members  are  to  keep  their  terms  by  eating  and  not 
by  studying";  as  to  the  preparatory  department,  if  expedient, 
it  hopes  the  college  will  soon  outgrow  it  and  so  lift  the  stand- 
ards of  education.  It  wishes  the  institution  the  fullest  suc- 
cess. "Shall  not  Massachusetts,  too,  have  her  university  for 
women"?  "Has  she  not  her  Vassar  also"  among  her  many 
liberal  patrons  of  learning? 

"We  must  confess  that  we  regret  that  it  is  contemplated  to 
provide  a  home  for  the  students  in  the  college  edifice,  and  thus 
make  of  the  institution  a  great  boarding  school  or  convent, 
involving  in  it  the  multitude  of  cares,  expenses,  annoyances, 
restraints,  vexatious  regulations,  and  evil  influences,  which  are 
incident  to  the  amassing  of  so  many  persons  in  one  community 
under  a  single  roof.  On  account  of  this  provision,  which,  in 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    225 

away  from  parental  care,  each  according  to 
her  own  preferences.  He  speaks  also  of  the 
difficulty  of  getting  to  the  buildings  from  the 
city.  The  economic  argument  is  also  urged, 
and  the  superior  intellectual,  social,  and  moral 
advantages.  He  points  out  the  gains  of  one 
great  community  with  common  purposes,  and 
refers  to  the  experiences  of  Dr.  Jewett  and 
Mary  Lyon  with  day  pupils  in  their  institu- 
tions, as  pointing  out  the  superiority  of  the 
advantages  of  residence  pupils. 

He  pays  a  high  tribute  to  Jewett,  to  his 

such  an  institution,  judging  from  the  university  experience  of 
England,  Scotland,  Germany,  and  this  country,  we  deem  to 
be  usually  worse  than  needless,  the  building  and  grounds  at 
Poughkeepsie  will  cost,  according  to  the  statement  of  the 
trustees,  about  $247,000,  or  more  than  one  half  of  its  magnifi- 
cent endowment,  leaving  only  about  $161,000  for  all  other 
purposes.  If  it  is  not  now  too  late  to  make  a  change,  we 
beg  leave  to  suggest,  most  respectfully  but  earnestly,  to  the 
founder,  president,  and  other  trustees,  whether  it  would  not 
be  better  to  erect,  at  a  fourth  part  of  the  expense,  a  building, 
in  some  convenient  situation,  for  the  public  rooms  required: 
leaving  the  teachers  and  pupils  to  obtain  houses  and  board 
for  themselves,  according  to  their  own  preferences,  and  thus 
doubling  the  sum  appropriated  for  the  intellectual  endowment 
of  the  institution,  —  its  library,  apparatus,  cabinets  of  natu- 
ral history,  art  gallery,  and  other  collections,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  professorships  and  scholarships."  (The  Massachusetts 
Teacher,  September,  1861;  quoted  in  the  New  Englander,  vol. 
21,  p.  733.) 


226      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

enthusiastic  consecration,  his  experience,  his 
fine  culture,  his  executive  power,  his  singular 
tact  and  suavity  and  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  his  industry  and  tenacity  and  large 
hospitahty,  and  his  high  spiritual  life. 

The  Board  was  greatly  pleased  with  this  dis- 
criminating and  able  article,  and  republished 
it  for  distribution.  It  also  sent  to  Mr.  Tyler, 
as  evidence  of  its  appreciation,  a  substantial 
honorarium. 

The  article  brought  out  criticism,  even  if  it 
remained  unprinted.  In  the  letters  of  Charles 
A.  Raymond  to  Mr.  Vassar  and  to  Mr.  Swan, 
we  find  strong  objections  to  Mr.  Tyler's  point 
of  view.  He  regards  as  "chimerical"  and 
"transcendental"  the  idea  that  young  women 
will  go  to  college  for  four  years  as  young  men 
do.  Where  would  they  prepare.'*  They  must 
enter  at  thirteen  or  fourteen  and  graduate  at 
nineteen  or  twenty.  No  other  way  is  possible. 
He  advocates  their  education  because  they 
govern  us  through  their  sensibihties.  Every 
imitation  of  colleges  for  men  is  unsuitable.  He 
praises  the  tone  and  spirit  of  Mr.  Tyler's  arti- 
cle, and  its  good  taste.  But  his  conception  of 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    227 

girls  as  distinguished  from  boys  is  very  old- 
fashioned  and  very  sentimental.  A  college 
cannot  hold  them  after  nineteen  unless  they  are 
bound  to  be  old  maids  and  professional  teach- 
ers. "This  is  the  practical  plain  truth."  "The 
idea  of  a  college  such  as  Tyler  alludes  to  is  so 
intangible  that  I  suppose  he  could  not  help  the 
intimation  that  it  might  fail." 

By  1863,  the  plan  had  become  more  familiar 
and  called  forth  less  comment,  but  a  few  state- 
ments are  preserved  that  are  of  interest.  The 
Boston  "Daily  Advertiser,"  for  example,  de- 
clares that  "the  establishment  of  the  college 
marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  our  civili- 
zation, indeed,  in  the  civilization  of  the  world." 
"Hitherto  there  has  been  no  Harvard,  nor 
Yale,  nor  Amherst,  nor  WilKams,  nor  Dart- 
mouth, for  woman.  Now,  thanks  to  Matthew 
Vassar,  she  has  a  college  which  in  its  advan- 
tages will  be  equal  to  any  one  of  these." 
"Woman  at  once  has  a  higher  level,  .  .  . 
higher  hopes,  higher  aims,  and  labors  with 
more  confidence  of  success."  "Honor  then  to 
the  Founder  of  the  First  Female  College!" 
He  deserves  a  place  above  Harvard  or  Yale, 


228      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

as  an  innovator.  Dr.  Jewett  also  receives  a 
high  tribute. 

The  New  York  "Tribune"*  again  recurs  to 
it,  tells  of  its  progress,  and  calls  the  project 
"one  of  the  milestones  that  mark  the  advance- 
ment of  the  age."  In  another  paper  it  is  said 
that  "the  eyes  of  the  world  and  many  previ- 
ous hopes  are  turned  toward  it."  It  is  difficult 
to  overestimate  the  responsibility  and  oppor- 
tunity of  those  who  are  to  "mould  and  direct 
this  mighty  influence." ^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  a  word  from 
the  "Friends'  InteUigencer."^  The  Friends 
have  never  hmited  woman,  it  reminds  us,  and 
in  giving  an  account  of  the  plan  and  the  work 
in  progress,  it  greatly  praises  it  and  extends  the 
hand  of  fellowship  on  behalf  of  their  com- 
munion.* 

In  1864  we  find  many  references  to  the  col- 
lege in  "Godey's  Lady's  Book."  In  January 
there  is  a  laudatory  article  on  Mr.  Vassar, 
with  quotations  from  his  first  address  to  the 
Trustees.   It  has  the  authority  of  Mr.  Vassar 

*  February  4,  1863.  '  Scrapbook,  without  name. 

'  April  18  and  20,  1863.       *  Scrapbook. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    229 

himself  for  the  statement  that  the  college  is 
to  open  in  September.^  Moses  Coit  Tyler  is 
quoted  as  to  buildings,  grounds,  endowment, 
the  home-plan  of  the  college.  "The  enterprise 
is  the  initiative  of  a  most  important  era  in  the 
improvement  of  humanity."  The  fear  of  some 
that  "Hterary  cultivation  will  injure  the  house- 
hold virtues"  is  answered,  the  writer  finding 
graver  danger  in  dissipation  and  nonsense. 
The  instruction  in  religion  and  morals,  as  the 
basis  of  its  educational  system,  is  regarded  as 
the  "distinguishing  glory"  of  Vassar.^ 

The  founder  makes  reference  to  this  Jan- 
uary article,^  and  says  our  "secular  paper  has 
desired  to  print  it." 

In  the  February  number,*  Jewett's  new 
educational  scheme  is  examined  and  its  "one 
defect "  is  indicated.  It  may  be  easily  amended. 

1  Vol.  68,  pp.  93,  488. 

'  It  is  interesting  to  find  the  founder  favoring  "a  uniform 
costume"  "to  be  furnished  by  the  college."  (October  23, 1861.) 
He  returns  to  this  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Hale  (January  7,  1865), 
arguing  that  it  would  prevent  jealousy  and  secure  comfort  and 
convenience.  He  consults  her  as  to  material.  It  must  be  inex- 
pensive and  would  be  used  only  for  school  hours  and  in  exercise. 

'  Letter,  January  25,  1864. 

*  Godey's  Lady's  Book,  vol.  68,  p.  199. 


230      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

The  author  of  the  articles  is  a  gentleman  whose 
opportunities  of  understanding  the  subject  he 
discusses  have  been  of  no  common  order.  The 
plan  and  its  advantages  are  stated  chiefly  in 
Jewett's  own  language.  The  grave  defect  is 
in  the  plan  to  have  the  President  and  all  the 
professors  men.  The  assistants  will  be  women. 
This  is  disparaging  woman.  It  must  be  that 
there  are  women  capable  of  filling  these  places. 
No  need  to  go  back,  with  Jewett,  to  Deborah 
or  Hypatia,  or  Laura  Bassi,  or  Maria  Agnesi. 
While  the  writer  has  no  wish  to  urge  women 
for  political  office,  or  for  colleges  for  men,  he 
recognizes  this  as  a  new  condition.  The  Presi- 
dent, now,  should  be  a  man,  —  Dr.  Jewett,  — 
but  there  should  be  a  Lady  Superintendent, 
and  the  instructors  should  be  ladies  if  they 
can  be  found.  This  should  be  done  for  the 
encouragement,  honor,  and  proper  recognition 
of  the  sex.  Vassar  is  an  example. 

The  important  February  meeting  of  1864  is 
referred  to  later.  ^  Two  questions  had  been  left 
unsettled,  it  is  said,  —  the  title,  as  Mrs. 
Hale  had  been  urging,  should  be  amended  by 

^  Godey's  Lady's  Book,  p.  488. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    231 

the  omission  of  "Female,"  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  men  to  the  "Chairs."  The  writer  of 
the  earHer  article  had  suggested  a  way  to  find 
candidates:  advertise  and  ask  testimonials; 
the  result  would  be  a  surprise!  The  "editress" 
argues  that  young  women  must  have  a 
woman's  influence,  as  in  a  home.  No  father  is 
sufficient.  If  Vassar  gives  opportunity,  women 
will  come  forward,  as  Eugenie  de  Guerin  in 
France,  so  recently,  or  as  Florence  Nightingale 
in  England.  A  strong  plea  is  made  against  the 
use  of  "female"  in  the  title  of  the  college.^ 

Once  more  ^  the  magazine  returns  to  the  col- 
lege, because  the  pubhc  feeling  demands  more 
information  about  it.  So  it  quotes  at  length 
from  the  remarkable  address  of  the  founder  to 
his  Trustees  in  February  and  his  great  plea 
for  women.  "Let  all  women  thank  God  for 
Mr.  Vassar  and  take  courage."  The  article  is 
entitled  "Vassar  College:  Woman's  Own,"  and 
calls  the  college  "the  educational  wonder." 
Finally,  in  July,  it  recurs  to  the  subject,  and 

^  Great  praise  is  given  to  the  proposed  religious  element  in 
instruction,  and  to  President  Jewett,  in  the  Boston  Recorder, 
January  5,  1864. 

*  Godey's  Lady's  Book,  vol.  68,  p.  577. 


232      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

gives  an  account  of  the  Vassar  Art  Gallery. 
The  college  is  called  "the  great  philanthropic 
enterprise  of  the  age."  Dr.  Magoon's  report 
on  the  art  collection  is  quoted  at  length,  and  he 
is  termed  "an  elegant  writer."^ 

An  adverse  criticism  appears  at  this  time  in 
the  "Round  Table"  of  February  27.  It  criti- 
cizes Dr.  Jewett's  educational  scheme  severely, 
saying  that  it  is  in  bad  taste  as  to  language, 
florid,  turgid,  pedantic,  where  it  should  be 
simple,  direct,  and  logical.  It  misrepresents 
entirely  what  study  in  a  "  School  of  Languages  " 
would  do,  as  it  holds  out  promises  that  are 
never  realized  in  our  colleges  for  men  unless  in 
the  case  of  a  prodigy.  The  whole  modern  sys- 
tem of  female  education  is  objected  to.  Mental 
equaUty  of  the  sexes  is  a  miserable  philo- 
sophical dogma.  Woman  is  not  equal  to  man, 
but  superior,  mentally  and  physically.  The 
writer  appeals  to  the  Trustees  to  "banish  the 
barbarous  curriculum  proposed  which  would 
work  incalculable  mischief."  The  nine  chairs, 
"bristling  all  around  with  hard  names," 
awaken  commiseration  and  alarm  —  better 
»  Qodey'9  Lady's  Book,  vol.  69,  p.  84. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    233 

put  the  time  into  belles-lettres  rather  than  into 
the  unfeminine  studies  of  metaphysics,  mathe- 
matics, pohtical  economy,  and  dead  languages, 
all  of  which  represent  unfeminine  aspirations. 
Woman  can  do  these  things,  but  they  are  not 
properly  for  her. 

Setting  aside  four  out  of  the  nine  chairs,  the 
writer  adds  a  word  on  the  occupants  of  the 
others,  objecting  decidedly  to  men.  "Vassar 
Female  College  is  a  sphere  of  Venus,  and  no 
Jupiter  has  business  there."  Only  women  can 
educate  women.  "Who  but  Flora  should  pre- 
side in  her  own  garden?" 

The  Committee  also  errs  in  its  report  in 
placing  too  high  a  cost  on  education.  It  will 
result  in  an  education  of  an  aristocratic  ele- 
ment. Two  hundred  dollars  is  enough  if  the 
useless  machinery  referred  to  is  dispensed  with. 

There  is  a  long  letter  in  the  New  York 
"World"  of  August  20,  apparently  taken  from 
some  other  paper,  and  entered  in  the  Scrap- 
book.  The  building  is  nearing  completion  and 
the  report  of  Jewett  on  his  plan  leads  the 
writer,  "Jennie  June,"  to  discuss  it  in  detail. 
High  praise  is  given  to  it,  but  the  various 


234      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

details  of  the  educational  plan  are  discussed 
and  the  possibility  of  the  coming  of  co-educa- 
tion is  mentioned,  though  the  time,  perhaps, 
has  not  yet  arrived.  The  system  of  education, 
the  use  of  the  ornamental  branches,  and  other 
such  points  are  discussed,  and  there  is  a  plea 
for  high  standards.  The  letter  is  an  important 
one  as  bearing  on  public  opinion  at  the  time. 
The  writer  objects  strongly  to  the  plan  for 
one-year  courses,  and  to  the  awarding  of  diplo- 
mas for  them,  and  claims  that  they  will  lower 
the  standards  of  the  college.  She  sees  no  reason 
for  trying  to  train  the  students  in  domestic 
matters  while  in  college. 

One  more  reference,  from  another  source, 
reminds  us  of  the  disastrous  aftermath  of  that 
February  meeting.  The  Newark  "Daily  Ad- 
vertiser"^ says  the  college  is  approaching 
completion,  but  that  Dr.  Jewett  has  resigned 
because  of  "irreconcilable  personal  differ- 
ences.*' 2 

1  June  11. 

'  References  to  the  resignation  are  found  in  the  local  papers, 
but  the  causes  leading  to  it  seem  to  have  been  carefully  con- 
cealed. The  Press  of  April  25  reports  a  "rumor"  of  the  resigna- 
tion, and  confirms  it  the  next  day,  and  the  same  item  is  in  the 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    235 

In  1865,  just  preceding  the  opening,  we  have 
some  sharp  criticism  of  an  alleged  important 
defect  in  the  educational  plan.  In  the  January 
number  of  "Godey's  Lady's  Book"^  the  want 
of  a  chair  of  domestic  science  is  challenged  on 
purely  practical  and  womanly  grounds.  Just 
such  "practical"  views  of  education  as  are 
urged  to-day,  at  the  expense  of  a  broad  and 
liberal  education,  as  calling  for  preparation 
for  some  specific  profession,  trade,  or  occupa- 
tion rather  than  for  life,  found  expression  then. 
The  man  with  a  limp  collar  and  a  poor  break- 
fast is  not  satisfied  because  his  wife  knows 
navigation!  Men's  colleges,  indeed,  are  'pre- 
'paratory,  we  are  told,  but  a  seminary  for  young 
ladies  is  designed  "to  complete  the  education  of 
its  inmates."  The  girl's  college  is  to  fit  her  for 
her  profession,  as  the  legal  school  prepares  the 
lawyer!  It  would  be  well  now  for  those  who 
believe  in  equal  advantages  for  women  to  pon- 
der that  statement. 

In  August  "Godey"  tells  us  that  the  college 

Telegraph  of  the  30th  (a  weekly).   The  Philadelphia  Ledger, 
May  6,  1864,  and  the  Pacific,  San  Francisco  (same  month), 
have  favorable  notices. 
»  Vol.  70,  p.  95. 


236      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

will  open  the  next  month,  and  that  there 
had  been  over  a  thousand  applications,  up  to 
May  1,  to  enter  "the  first  of  the  kind  ever  es- 
tablished in  the  wide  world."  The  Prospectus  is 
quoted  at  length  and  with  approval,  save  in  its 
lack  of  provision  for  domestic  education.^  It 
adds,  later,  ^  that  its  very  particular  attention 
to  Vassar  is  due  to  the  fact  that  "we  consider 
it  one  of  the  most  important  interests  of  our 
age  and  nation."  It  says  the  college  is  not  full, 
but  it  has  standards,  as  female  seminaries  have 
not  had,  and  its  thousand  applicants  it  has 
reduced  to  three  hundred. 

The  "World"  of  September  6,  1865,  indi- 
cates in  an  editorial  the  spirit  against  which 
the  college,  and  perhaps  every  college  at  times, 
has  to  contend:  namely,  the  associating  of  an 
institution  too  closely  with  the  expression  of 
some  member  of  its  faculty,  the  expression 
itself  being  often,  as  in  the  present  case,  grossly 
misrepresented.  The  title  of  the  editorial 
stands,  "Is  Miscegenation  to  be  taught  in 
Vassar  Female  College.'*"  Referring  to  the 
fine  foundation  that  had  been  created,  the 

1  Code's  Lady's  Book,  vol.  71,  p.  173.  *  Page  360. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    237 

editor  remarks  that  there  is  reason  for  fear 
that  "idiosyncrasies  of  certain  members  of  the 
Board  may  bring  it  into  danger."  The  Presi- 
dent, it  is  said,  has  recently  deHvered  a  dis- 
course, which  has  been  printed,  on  "God  the 
Perpetual  Renewer,"  "in  which  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  miscegenation,  as  understood 
by  Tilton  and  Co.,  is  advocated  unmistakably 
and  earnestly."  Quotations  follow,  at  consider- 
able length,  aiming  to  show  that  the  Negro 
must  have  his  rights,  and  these  are  twisted  to 
the  support  of  the  contention  of  the  editor.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  was  a  period 
of  bitter  feeling,  and  that  the  "World"  repre- 
sented at  the  time  what  was  known  as  the 
"Copperhead"  element,  and  therefore  was  apt 
to  be  particularly  condemnatory  of  anything 
that  looked  toward  the  rights  of  the  Negro.  It 
adds:  "Let  parents  who  think  of  sending  their 
young  daughters  to  this  institution  make  in- 
quiries touching  this  matter,"  and  assures  its 
readers  that  the  Northern  public  is  not  ready 
to  have  young  girls  and  budding  women  taught 
this  as  a  part  of  their  educational  course. 
Though  it  carries  us  beyond  the  scope  of  this 


238      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

volume,  a  few  references  may  be  added  from 
an  influential  magazine  ("Godey's  Lady's 
Book")  pertaining  to  the  time  after  the 
opening.  The  matter  of  domestic  science  is 
again  brought  forward.^  Evidently  its  special 
interest  draws  inquiries,  which  it  refers  to  the 
college,  calling  it  "this  grand  institution,"  and 
when  referring  to  the  first  catalogue  and  the 
first  half-year,  it  says,  "The  Editors  of  the 
Lady's  Book  do  not  keep  the  circulars  for  dis- 
tribution." Praising  the  equipment,  it  admits 
that  the  descriptions  may  seem  to  their  readers 
"  like  charming  fancies."^  It  looks  for  the  high- 
est results  in  eflficient  life  for  women.  "Only 
one  exception"  it  makes.  The  college  "bears 
on  its  fagade  the  inferior  title"  (Female).  Its 
faculty,  it  notes,  has  "eight  gentlemen  and 
twenty-two  ladies."  In  the  next  volume  3  it 
triumphs  over  the  change  of  name,  which  it 
calls  "one  of  the  remarkable  events  of  the 
year."  It  ranks  Vassar  alone  as  giving  to  girls 
such  an  education  as  colleges  offer  men,*  and 
to  a  query  as  to  reasons  for  the  preponderance 

1  Vol.  72,  p.  278.  «  Vol.  73,  p.  170. 

»  Vol.  74,  p.  374.  *  Vol.  75,  p.  354. 


RECEPTION  OF  VASSAR'S  PLAN    239 

of  men  in  the  professorships,  it  answers  that 
there  are  not  yet  enough  prepared  women, 
though  it  emphasizes  the  preponderance  of 
women  in  the  total  teaching  force.  ^ 

This  survey  shows  us  that  the  general  recep- 
tion of  Mr.  Vassar's  scheme  was  appreciative, 
generous,  and  even  enthusiastic.  It  indicates 
the  presence  of  skepticism,  however,  and  such 
objections  as  have  been  urged  in  every  time 
against  hberal  education  for  men  as  well  as 
women.  A  more  serious  attack  was  to  come 
a  little  later,  after  the  college  had  settled  to  its 
work,  and  its  results  provoked  inquiry  and  at 
last  bitter  conflict  between  the  advocates  of 
the  higher  education  and  those  who  challenged 
it  on  grounds  of  woman's  alleged  physical  in- 
capacity for  the  course,  or  her  asumed  mental 
limitations,  or  the  fancied  tendency  of  educa- 
tion to  destroy  social  and  domestic  instincts 
and  graces.  That  well-fought  battle  is  outside 
the  period  that  now  engages  us.  Long  ago  it 
was  won  for  the  women's  colleges,  and  their 
foes  are  now  chiefly  the  laziness  that  comes 
with  luxury,  the  fear  of  hard  work,  the  impa- 
*  Godey's  Lady's  Book,  vol.  75,  p.  448. 


240      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

tience  of  the  young  to  get  at  the  occupations  or 
the  social  whirl  of  life,  and  the  lack  of  appreci- 
ation in  parents  of  the  worth  to  life  of  mental 
training  and  liberal  education.  The  enemy  is 
an  old  foe,  if  sometimes  assuming  a  new  face. 
But  when  Vassar  opened,  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  welcome  of  those  who  longed  for  its  privi- 
leges far  outweighed  the  occasional  criticism  or 
the  general  indifference,  and  Mr.  Vassar  had 
every  reason  for  cheer  and  happiness  as  he 
saw  at  last  established,  and  by  his  own  work 
and  generosity,  an  opportunity  which  evidently 
answered  a  far-reaching  demand. 


VI 

THE  YEAR  BEFORE  THE  COLLEGE  OPENED 

May,  1864,  to  September,  1865 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  in  April,  1864, 
when  Dr.  Jewett's  resignation  was  accepted, 
John  Howard  Raymond,  President  of  the 
Brooklyn  Polytechnic  Institute,  was  elected 
in  his  stead.  He  at  first  declined  the  honor. 
He  had  been  a  Trustee  from  the  beginning, 
and  was  well  aware  of  the  difficulties  involved 
in  the  almost  herculean  task.  He  had  returned 
from  a  year's  recreation  and  travel  in  Europe 
not  wholly  reestablished  in  health,  and  had 
offered  his  resignation  in  Brooklyn  in  the  con- 
viction of  his  need  of  a  complete  rest  from  ad- 
ministrative labors, — though  his  Trustees  had 
refused  to  accept  it  and  had  proposed  meas- 
ures for  lessening  his  work.  On  the  thirteenth 
of  May  he  addressed  to  Mr.  Vassar  a  remark- 
able letter  (it  fills  over  five  printed  pages  in 
his  "Biography"^)  in  which  he  gives  at  length 
1  Pages  507-12. 


242      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

the  reasons  for  his  adverse  decision.  It  seemed 
to  them  then  that  the  college  must  be  opened 
in  the  fall  and  the  time  was  too  short  for  one 
not  in  full  vigor.  He  had  intended  to  take  a 
year  of  rest,  and  knew  that  the  exactions  of  the 
next  few  months  would  be  extreme.  But  even 
if  this  objection  could  be  met  he  could  not 
accept  the  office  at  the  compensation  offered.^ 
He  tells  Mr.  Vassar  that  it  would  be  difficult 
for  business  men,  accustomed  to  daily  exchange 
and  mutual  comparison  of  values,  to  appreci- 
ate what  it  cost  him  to  write  that,  after  a  serv- 
ice to  public  education  of  nearly  thirty  years 
(nineteen  as  a  college  professor,  nine  in  Brook- 
lyn), during  which  he  had  never  made  terms 
for  himself,  never  asked  a  dollar's  advance,  and 
never  made  the  two  ends  of  a  year  meet.  He 
had  met  with  generous  praise,  worked  in  large 
and  wealthy  communities,  and  at  a  constant 
pecuniary  sacrifice.  He  closes  his  twenty- 
eighth  year  of  public  service  "with  impaired 
health,  a  family  unprovided  for,  and  an  empty 
purse."  Henceforth  he  cannot  accept  office 
without  a  compensation  regulated  by  the 
1  Equivalent  to  $3500. 


JOHN    H.    RAYMOND 

President  of  Vassar  CoUege  186*-1878 


THE  LAST  YEAR  243 

value  of  service  and  not  by  usage.  But  in  his 
opinion  the  college  resources  would  not  justify 
paying  the  salary  he  needed  ($5000).  The 
large  sum  given  had  been,  to  the  regret  of  all, 
absorbed  in  material  provisions,  compelling 
economy  at  the  very  start  and  at  the  vital 
point.  However,  it  should  not  be  difficult  to 
find  a  stronger  and  a  better  man  for  President 
on  terms  within  its  means. 

One  week  later  he  writes  to  his  wife:  "As  I 
feared,  they  are  going  to  come  to  my  terms." 
Mr.  Vassar  had  declared  his  position  "per- 
fectly reasonable  and  right."  But  later,  fear- 
ing that  the  founder  had  misapprehended  his 
views,  he  determined  on  a  personal  interview 
and  visited  him  at  Springside.  For  the  first 
time,  he  tells  his  wife,  he  was  "brought  into 
direct  contact  with  Mr.  Vassar's  heart:  it  is 
as  large  as  an  elephant's  and  as  tender  as  a 
babe's."  His  admiration  of  the  old  man's 
purity  of  motive  and  catholicity  of  spirit,  com- 
bined with  broad  common  sense  and  much 
business  experience,  calls  out  the  remark,  "If 
thine  eye  be  single,  it  shall  be  full  of  light." 
The  founder  removed  his  anxieties  as  to  future 


244      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

endowment,  and  convinced  him  that  the  way 
was  open  for  him  to  accept,  and  he  wrote  at 
once  to  the  Polytechnic  Trustees  announcing 
his  purpose.^  What  all  this  cost  him  one  may 
read  in  the  account  to  his  wife  of  the  reaction, 
the  sick  headache,  and  the  day  in  bed  amid 
the  exquisite  beauties  of  Springside.  On  the 
tenth  of  June,  he  addressed  his  formal  ac- 
ceptance to  the  Executive  Committee.  Mr. 
Vassar's  satisfaction  was  hard  to  express.  The 
last  doubt  and  anxiety  were  removed  "as  to 
the  assured  success  of  our  college."'^ 

The  Board  met  on  June  28,  1864,  and  in  his 
address  the  founder  announces  "the  highly 
gratifying  intelligence"  "that  the  Rev.  John 
H.  Raymond,  D.D.,  has  accepted  the  presi- 
dency of  our  college  on  terms  mutually  satis- 
factory to  both  parties.'*  In  this  same  address 
is  a  reference  to  Dr.  Jewett,  not  by  name,  — 
the  only  one  made  by  him  save  those  in  June, 
1866,  of  which  we  are  aware,  after  the  date  of 
his  resignation.'   He  is  referring  to  a  disposi- 

»  Life,  pp.  512,  13. 
'  Letter  in  Raymond's  Life,  p.  515. 

'  These  latter  references  were  in  connection  with  the  use  of 
the  word  "Female." 


THE  LAST  YEAR  245 

tion  from  the  first  to  "lavish  means  unwisely," 
through  lack  of  knowledge  of  necessary  details, 
and  says  it  was  impossible  for  him  ("from  the 
state  of  my  health")  "to  guard  against  all 
mistakes,  especially  those  the  earliest  made, 
which  properly  belonged  to  one  who,  by  long 
experience,  knew,  as  I  supposed,  what  was 
wanted  in  the  line  of  his  practice,  but  which 
mistake  was  not,  until  too  late,  brought  to  my 
notice.  Still,  it  is  believed  that  these  difficul- 
ties are  now  substantially  surmounted  and  at 
last  removed." 

At  this  meeting,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was 
elected  a  Trustee;  R.  A.  Fisher,  the  appointed 
professor  of  chemistry,  resigned;  the  founder 
presented  the  art  collection  he  had  purchased 
from  Dr.  Magoon  at  a  cost  of  $20,000;  and  the 
opening  of  the  college  was  definitely  fixed  for 
September,  1865,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  founder  and  to  the  gratification  of  the  new 
President.  The  latter  was  instructed  to  pre- 
pare a  "Prospectus"  for  the  public.^ 

It  is  well  to  note  again  what  had  been  accom- 
plished up  to  this  time.  The  charter  had  been 
*  Minutes,  June  28, 1864. 


246      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

granted  in  January  of  1861,  and  ground  had 
been  broken  for  the  building  that  very  year. 
The  supreme  interest  of  the  people  was  in  the 
war,  but  nevertheless  the  operations  of  build- 
ing the  college  went  on,  often  hindered,  indeed, 
by  economic  considerations  due  to  the  dis- 
turbed condition  of  the  country,  and  involving 
at  last  an  unanticipated  draft  on  the  generous 
sum  which,  it  had  been  hoped,  would  endow 
as  well  as  build  the  institution.  Through  these 
three  years  the  Building  Committee  and  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  had  unweariedly,  and  amid 
constant  anxieties,  pushed  the  building  oper- 
ations, laid  out  the  grounds,  and  prepared  the 
physical  equipment.  In  his  address  at  this 
June  meeting,  the  founder,  who  was  chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  gives  us  a  glimpse 
of  the  work  done  and  that  in  process.  The 
college  building  was  largely  finished,  but  all 
the  plumbing  remained  to  be  done,  and  the 
bell-hanging,  and  the  furnishing.  The  observ- 
atory had  been  finished  and  arranged  by  Pro- 
fessor Farrar.  Gas-building  and  boiler-house 
were  in  process.  Contracts  were  out  for  fur- 
nishing the  kitchens.  The  mere  recital  fails 


THE  LAST  YEAR  247 

to  convey  the  truth:  the  gas  apparatus,  steam- 
boiler  and  pipes  for  heating,  alone  cost  $40,000. 
The  enormous  size  of  the  building  must  be 
remembered  if  one  would  estimate  what  was 
involved  for  the  men  who  were  guiding  the 
new  experiment.  Mr.  Vassar  did  not  exag- 
gerate when  he  declared  his  doubt  of  another 
instance  on  record  where  so  much  had  been 
done  in  a  short  period  —  and  this  was  fifty 
years  ago.  The  State  Inebriate  Asylum  at 
Binghamton,  smaller  than  the  college,  and 
begun  about  the  same  time,  would  require  a 
year  or  two  to  finish;  all  of  the  colleges  had 
required  an  average  of  "some  twenty  years  to 
get  fairly  at  work." 

Much  had  been  done  also  on  the  academic 
side,  —  a  museum  established,  an  art  gallery 
purchased,  a  general  scheme  of  education  dis- 
cussed, a  library  begun,  and  many  practical 
problems  as  to  organization  and  appointments 
considered  by  the  Board.  Moreover,  apphca- 
tions  were  pouring  in,  and  success  seemed 
assured.  All  were  anxious  to  begin  the  actual 
work,  and  none  more  so  than  the  founder,  but 
his  well-balanced  mind  suggested  patience  and 


248      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

thorough  preparation.  The  new  President, 
also,  while  assuming  no  responsibility  for  de- 
ferring the  opening,  satisfied  the  Trustees  that 
the  true  policy  was  to  take  ample  time  to 
perfect  all  arrangements.  The  founder  was 
"vastly  pleased"  with  the  Board's  decision.^ 
He  had  been  "almost  worn  out"  by  the  "per- 
petual pushing,  pushing  to  have  the  college 
started  this  fall"  (1864),  but  had  supposed 
Dr.  Raymond  "favored  haste,"  and  "had 
made  up  his  mind  to  consent  to  a  compromise 
on  January  or  February  next."  "He  told  me, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  that  he  felt  a  mountain 
lifted  off  his  heart  and  thanked  God  that  he 
had  found  a  man  who  could  not  only  under- 
stand his  ideas  but  make  other  people  under- 
stand them  too."  The  meeting  broke  up  amid 
"general  interchange  of  handshakes  and  con- 
gratulations."^ Evidently  a  crisis  was  passed, 
time  was  gained,  and  the  satisfaction  was  felt 
in  the  new  leadership  that  was  so  abundantly 
justified  by  events. 

The  new  President  had  practically  carte 
blanche   in   his  planning,'  —  a   very   natural 

»  Raymond's  UJe,  p.  517.         *  lUd,         »  lUd.,  p.  520. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  249 

reaction  after  the  recent  strenuous  and  crucial 
events.  His  chief  idea  as  to  the  province  of  the 
college  was  perfectly  clear.  It  would  offer  "a 
liberal  education"  built  on  the  best  and  most 
thorough  training  then  attainable  in  "Ladies' 
Seminaries.'*  The  former  notion  of  a  school  for 
"all  ages,"  as  Dr.  Raymond  interprets  the 
original  scheme,^  working  up  through  various 
schools  to  the  full  degree,  —  was  abandoned. 
Jewett's  plan  was  reversed.  The  new  President 
had  become  convinced  that  a  novel  experi- 
ment for  the  new  work  was  undesirable.  A  col- 
lege for  women  would  have  enough  to  encoun- 
ter without  antagonizing  every  current  view 
of  a  college,  and  the  practicability  of  Jewett's 
scheme  had  by  no  means  established  its  superi- 
ority by  its  limited  trial  in  the  South.  Un- 
doubtedly its  adoption  then  would  have  hin- 
dered and  fettered  Vassar  and  would  have 
added  enormously  to  the  burden  of  a  new  and 
untried  faculty.  Dr.  Raymond,  moreover, 
was  abundantly  familiar  with  current  modes 
and  discussions,  and  his  professorships  in 
Madison  and  Rochester,  as  well  as  his  familiar- 
^  Raymond's  Life,  p.  519. 


250      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ity  with  secondary  school  work,  in  Brooklyn, 
naturally  inclined  him  to  an  adoption  of  sys- 
tems in  vogue  rather  than  to  the  introduction 
of  a  scheme  untried  in  the  North.  The  result 
abundantly  proved  his  wisdom.  What  he  tells 
us  later  of  the  conditions  of  education  of  girls, 
as  revealed  through  his  first  students,  proves 
amply  the  requirement  of  a  well-regulated 
course  whose  purpose,  at  first,  was  steady, 
regular,  and  compulsory  training. 

His  scheme,  however,  was  yet  to  be  worked 
out.  Prudently  fortifying  himself  by  a  sum- 
mer's rest,  and  after  helping  the  Trustees  of 
the  Polytechnic  to  open  the  institution  in  Sep- 
tember, he  took  up  his  solitary  abode  in  Pough- 
keepsie,  —  for  by  himself  he  had  determined  to 
work  out  his  plans  during  the  months  that 
would  require  much  seclusion,  much  traveling, 
and  great  uncertainties.  Almost  at  once,  as 
illustrating  the  large  and  careful  preparation 
for  the  great  scheme,  he  met  a  committee  of 
scientists,  —  Dana,  Torrey,  Hall,  and  "possi- 
bly Agassiz,"  —  who  had  come  to  examine  the 
"Cabinet"  of  scientific  collections  already 
made.    Dr.  Magoon  was  found  at  work,  also, 


THE  LAST  YEAR  251 

hanging  his  pictures,  and  the  copies  of  the 
"Masters"  the  college  had  purchased.  The 
"Cabinet"  was  regarded  by  these  gentlemen 
as  of  rare  worth,  and  unsurpassed  in  America 
or  Europe  in  its  setting  and  arrangement.  This 
was  one  indication  of  the  high  standards  which 
had  been  set  up.  The  great  scale  of  the  under- 
taking must  be  remembered  in  any  discussion 
of  the  "originaUty"  of  the  founder's  idea. 

Dr.  Raymond  set  up  his  bachelor  quarters 
in  the  "Northern  Hotel,"  even  then  an  old- 
fashioned  house  on  the  corner  of  Mill  and 
Washington  Streets,  and  long  since  removed, 
"a  first-class  country  'tavern'  of  the  olden 
time,  neat  as  wax,  with  good,  savory  eating  and 
quiet,  civil,  and  attentive  service,"  and  there 
he  hved  for  months  without  sight  of  his  wife 
and  children,  while  working  out  the  great  prob- 
lem and  the  way  to  meet  it.  His  quiet  was 
varied  by  trips  in  search  of  instructors  and  pro- 
fessors for  the  new  faculty,  a  quest  always 
of  gravest  difficulty,  but  greater  than  at  any 
ordinary  time,  in  view  of  this  new  work  and 
the  small  supply  of  those  fitted  to  begin  it. 
Already  by  December  he  had  settled  on  Pro- 


252      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

fessor  Tenney  (natural  history)  as  "sure  for 
an  appointment;  and  Miss  Mitchell,  if  we  can 
afford  such  a  costly  luxury"!  The  rest  was 
more  diflficult.  He  knew  what  he  wanted,  but 
it  was  not  easy  to  find  it,  and  when  found  not 
always  obtainable  for  a  work  which  was  not 
yet  estabUshed  and  secure.  In  it  all,  however, 
he  was  sustained  by  Mr.  Vassar's  hope  and 
faith.  1  Before  the  process  was  finished  and  he 
was  ready  to  report  to  the  Board,  he  wrote  his 
wife  that  he  was  "thoroughly  jaded  with  over- 
much talk  and  the  incessant  asking  and  answer- 
ing of  questions."  "If  I  die  suddenly,  I  think 
the  '  crowner's  quest '  will  find, '  Died  of  School- 
marm  on  the  brain.' "2 

The  most  important  post,  from  his  admin- 
istrative point  of  view,  and  in  view  of  the  so- 
cial, moral,  and  spiritual  responsibility  of  the 
college,  was  the  lady  principalship.  Nothing 
could  mean  more,  nor  so  much,  to  the  satisfac- 
tory conduct  of  the  college,  and  nothing  could 
be  so  significant  of  its  policy  for  the  future.  It 
contemplated  a  social  headship,  instruction  in 
manners  and  morals,  religious  leadership,  a 

^  Raymond's  Life,  p.  531.  *  lUd.,  p.  542. 


THE   LAST  YEAR  253 

close  counselor  of  the  President,  and  a  promi- 
nent influence  in  the  faculty  itself. 

President  Raymond  and  Hannah  Lyman 
had  corresponded  for  five  months,^  before  he 
was  able  to  meet  her  in  Montreal  and  definitely 
settle  her  appointment.  They  had  exchanged 
views,  written  nobly  of  their  ideals,  questioned 
seriously  the  appointment  of  one  of  her  age,^ 
and  reached  the  conclusion,  justified  fully  by 
events,  that  hers  was  a  divine  call  to  a  special 
mission  at  just  that  juncture  in  the  education 
of  women.  She  was  the  successful  head  of  a 
school,  with  theories  of  training  that  remind 
one  of  Mary  Lyon,  and  with  a  devotion  equal 
to  that  of  the  saint  of  Holyoke.  She  was  the 
rare  woman  for  that  hour,  and  no  one  can 
exaggerate  the  debt  of  the  college  to  her  in 
those  years  of  the  formation  and  fostering  of 
its  fresh  ideals.  She  held  far  stricter  views  on 
amusements  than  the  President,^  but  both  were 
catholic  in  their  estimate  of  life,*  and  her 
acceptance  of  the  lady  principalship  was  a 
guaranty  of    a    sound,   strong,  conservative 

*  Raymond's  Life,  p.  537.      '  Ibid.,  pp.  554-55;  cf.  letter. 

*  lUd.,  p.  541.  «  Ibid.,  pp.  545,  546,  547. 


254      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

administration  of  the  college  life  at  a  time  when 
a  sharply  critical  judgment  awaited  every  act 
of  students  or  faculty. 

Most  important  of  all  the  President's  labors 
was  the  plan  of  education  which  the  college 
should  offer.  There  was  no  faculty  to  discuss 
it  and  confer  about  it:  in  a  tentative  form  it 
must  be  submitted  to  the  Board  at  an  April 
meeting,  and  at  that  time  the  public  must  be 
told  of  the  scheme  which  the  Trustees  had 
indorsed.  With  Jewett's  scheme  before  him, 
and  with  his  long  familiarity  with  college  pro- 
grammes in  mind,  he  must  face  the  question, 
then  hotly  discussed,  as  to  special  provisions 
for  girls,  and  as  to  the  possible  adaptation  to 
their  needs  of  existing  methods  and  curricula. 
He  has  summed  up  for  us  the  conclusions 
reached  in  one  of  the  most  important  educa- 
tional documents  submitted  to  the  Vienna 
Exposition  in  1873.    . 

The  founder,  he  tells  us,  left  the  question  to 
experts,  only  demanding  that  women  should 
have  "the  best,"  "the  advantages  too  long 
monopolized  by  the  other"  sex.  But  just  then 
the  standards  for  young  men  were  all  unset- 


THE  LAST  YEAR  ^55 

tied.  What  was  the  proper  function  of  a  col- 
lege? The  champions  of  the  "new  education" 
were  demanding  a  large  place  for  the  physical 
sciences;  some  were  impugning  the  very  value 
of  a  classical  education;  and  all  were  urging 
larger  individual  choice. 

But  even  if  the  question  were  settled  for 
men,  would  the  same  answer  be  true  for  wo- 
men? There  were  no  real  precedents,  —  only 
theories  and  speculations.  Some  boldly  de- 
clared that  young  women  were  incapable,  phy- 
sically, of  strenuous  training;  others  main- 
tained that  there  was  *'no  sex  in  mind."  "A 
large  and  increasing  number  of  intelligent  ed- 
ucators" took  "middle  ground."  While  hold- 
ing that  no  amount  of  intellectual  training 
could  be  injurious  or  prejudicial,  they  claimed 
that  some  fundamental  principles  stood  out 
that  should  dictate  modifications  of  the  present 
system.  While  true  that  the  better  woman's 
training  and  the  broader  her  knowledge,  the 
better  would  she  be  fitted  for  life,  it  was  also 
true  that  her  constitution  and  life  demanded 
special  attention  to  sanitary  conditions,  to 
personal  and  domestic  comfort,  and  to  social 


25Q      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

safeguards.  From  reflection  on  these  issues 
Dr.  Raymond  gained  "two  or  three  starting- 
points." 

First,  there  must  be  a  complete  domestic 
system.  The  ideal  was  family  relation,  —  a 
home  in  which  responsibiUty  should  be  as- 
sumed for  sanitary  and  social  regulation  of  Hfe 
as  well  as  intellectual  training.  The  character 
of  the  building  and  the  business  as  well  as  the 
domestic  organization  must  be  determined  by 
this  viewpoint. 

Second,  the  course  must  be  liberal,  not  ele- 
mentary. It  must  not  be  a  higher  seminary, 
but  a  real  college. 

Third,  it  should  not  be  a  servile  copy  of  ex- 
isting models.  If  any  way  could  be  found  better 
to  adapt  the  old  methods  to  woman's  needs,  it 
must  be  accepted  and  used.  There  must  be  a 
recognition  of  real  demands,  but  no  lowering  of 
standards.  The  claims  of  aesthetic  culture 
were  clear:  was  anything  CISC'*  There  was  a 
strong  urgency  then  of  the  claim  of  "practical 
studies  " ;  but  what  are  practical,  and  what  not? 
Be  it  observed  and  emphasized,  in  reply  to 
many  assertions  in  these  later  years,  that  "the 


THE  LAST  YEAR  257 

fathers"  had  no  conception  of  the  special  ques- 
tions that  their  wise  children  are  discussing, 
that  the  letters  and  papers  of  this  early  history 
of  Vassar  abound  in  references  to  the  problem 
of  a  peculiar  education  fitted  for  women,  and 
this  first  Board  of  Trustees,  led  by  several  very 
prominent  educators  of  that  time,  sought  to 
meet  (as  we  shall  see  in  the  Prospectus)  fan- 
cied necessities  which  time  did  not  sustain  as 
such.  Not  "a  man's  education  for  women,"  as 
has  been  too  often  and  too  superficially  de- 
clared, was  their  purpose,  but  one  suited  to  the 
sex;  and  their  trouble  was  just  that  of  their 
successors,  the  finding  of  such  peculiarities  as 
call  for  a  different  kind  of  mental  training 
and  different  subjects  to  furnish  the  power  of 
clear  thought,  mental  efficiency,  and  broad 
culture. 

Dr.  Raymond  had  to  meet  another  issue, 
then  very  popular,  —  the  question  of  prescrip- 
tion or  free  election.  We  have  already  seen  the 
plan  of  President  Jewett  submitted  to  the 
Board  in  1863.  Dr.  Raymond,  who  was  on  the 
committee  which  permitted  its  presentation, 
tells  us  that  some  thought  it  unsuited  to  the 


258      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

actual  situation,  fearing  its  free  election  of 
*' schools"  would  be  fatal  to  sound  training, 
and  that  in  leaving  this  important  issue  to  the 
student,  the  college  was  shirking  its  responsi- 
bility. Moreover,  pubhc  opinion  must  be  taken 
into  account.  The  college  must  have  paying 
students,  —  for  it  had  no  endowments.  This 
necessity  bore  on  the  policy  and  plans  adopted. 
The  President  concluded  that  a  provisional 
plan  was  necessary,  to  be  matured  in  the  light 
of  experience  and  after  the  testing  of  public 
opinion  and  want.  Only  the  most  general  cur- 
riculum was  possible  till  a  fuller  test  could  be 
made  than  experience  had  offered,  of  the  prep- 
aration of  girls  for  college  and  their  demand  for 
college  education.  The  absence  of  references 
to  the  experiments  already  made  is  evidence 
that  they  had  not  made  a  great  impression  on 
the  country.  We  shall  see,  in  Dr.  Raymond's 
later  reflections  on  the  actual  conditions  re- 
vealed in  Vassar's  opening  year,  how  wise  was 
his  prevision,  and  how  justified  he  was  in  setting 
standards  that  were  regarded  as  insuflficient 
and  low  three  years  after  the  college  was  at 
work.   The  college  was  singularly  fortunate  in 


THE   LAST  YEAR  259 

that  its  formation  was  committed  to  a  man  of 
highest  educational  ideals  who  yet  recognized 
Jacts  and  adapted  the  offer  of  the  new  college 
to  the  actual  conditions  then  prevailing  in 
the  training  of  girls.  The  fuller  result  of  this . 
thinking  was  set  forth  in  the  Prospectus.  Now 
he  was  to  meet  his  Trustees  with  the  results  of 
his  laborious  winter. 

The  Board  met  on  April  12, 1865.  The  Pres- 
ident's scheme  was  "received  with  universal 
favor  and  approval,"  ^  and  he  was  directed  to 
prepare  a  Prospectus  for  the  public,  which  em- 
bodied it.  The  Board  voted  to  open  college  on 
the  third  Wednesday  of  September,  the  faculty 
to  assemble  September  1,  *'to  arrange  for  the 
opening."  The  requisites  for  admission  were 
fixed :  English  grammar,  arithmetic,  geography. 
United  States  history,  or  general  history,  al- 
gebra to  equations  of  the  second  degree,  Latin 
grammar,  reader,  five  books  of  Caesar,  French 
grammar  and  half  the  reader,  and  proficiency 
in  English  indispensable.  These  were  low,  — 
but  must  be  compared  with  the  standards  of 
1865,  and  not  with  those  of  to-day.  That  they 

^  Raymond's  Life,  p.  551. 


260      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

were  too  high  for  the  standard  of  female  edu- 
cation then  was  soon  apparent  enough,  and 
Vassar  was  driven  to  estabhsh  a  preparatory 
department. 

The  time  of  vacations  was  arranged.  A  plan 
had  commended  itseK  to  many  which  contem- 
plated vacations  in  the  winter,  from  January 
to  April  (three  months)  and  in  the  summer, 
—  the  month  of  August.  This  was  urged  on 
grounds  of  "health,  convenience,  and  utility"; 
the  maintenance  of  a  "just  proportion  between 
the  periods  of  rest  and  labor";  the  securing 
"for  collegiate  uses  the  largest  possible  amount 
of  that  season  which,  in  our  climate,  is  the  most 
propitious."  The  founder  thus  argues  in  his 
address,^  especially  urging  the  advantage  to 
health  in  our  rigorous  climate  of  escaping  these 
harsh  months.  He  devotes  the  principal  por- 
tion of  his  address  to  this  subject.  The  Board, 
however,  voted  to  abide  by  the  existing  usage 
in  America,  which  was  "the  probable  expecta- 
tion of  the  public." 

The  classes  were  to  be  called  first,  second, 
junior,  and  senior,  though  it  is  noticeable  that 

»  AprU  13,  1865. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  261 

in  his  first  annual  report  to  the  Trustees, 
Dr.  Raymond  wrote  freshman  and  sophomore. 
The  usage,  however,  persisted  in  the  Catalogue 
till  1872-73. 

The  Board  voted  that  the  departments  be 
"respectably"  equipped  before  opening,  to 
place  the  high  standing  of  the  college  beyond 
question.  There  were  to  be  nine  professors,  be- 
sides instructors,  and  written  contracts  were 
to  be  made  with  all. 

The  rates  were  fixed  at  $350,  without  extras, 
except  music  and  art,  which  were  $50  each. 
This  was  changed  to  $400  in  1866  and  so  re- 
mained till  1905-06.  Any  surplus  was  voted 
to  reduce  the  bills  of  excellent  indigent  stu- 
dents.  This  resolution  was  rescinded  in  1868. 

Professors  Knapp,  Farrar,  Tenney,  and 
Mitchell  were  now  elected.  The  founder 
agreed  to  advance  a  sum  not  to  exceed  $25,000 
to  secure  the  opening  and  the  first  year. 

One  other  subject  had  come  close  to  his 
heart.  Again  and  again  during  two  years  Mrs. 
Sarah  J.  Hale  had  urged  the  removal  of  "fe- 
male" from  the  charter  name  of  the  college. 
A  large  correspondence  had  been  carried  on, 


262      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

and  already,  as  we  have  seen,  a  resolution  to 
make  the  change  had  been  defeated  in  the 
Board.  Now  the  founder  suggests  the  pro- 
priety of  the  change,  and  leaves  it  to  the  Trus- 
tees. It  is  suggestive  of  the  conservatism  of 
the  Board  (probably  enough,  complicated  with 
legal  timidity  as  to  the  danger  of  subjecting  the 
charter  to  revision  by  the  Legislature),  and  of 
the  freedom  of  its  action  in  view  of  a  living 
founder  as  well,  that  the  motion  to  change  the 
title  was  again  defeated  at  the  regular  June 
meeting  by  a  vote  of  11  to  7.^  The  founder, 
however,  lived  to  see  the  change  made  by  the 
Legislature  in  1867.  He  had  made  an  earnest 
plea  for  it  in  his  address  to  the  Board  in  June, 
1866. 

The  account  of  this  important  meeting 
should  not  be  closed  without  reference  to  the 
opening  sentence  of  the  founder's  address. 
"Just  four  years  ago  to-morrow,"  he  says,  "we 
staked  out  the  ground  for  the  foundation  of  our 
College,  a  day  which  was  made  singularly 
memorable  by  the  Fall  of  Fort  Sumter.'*  He 
refers  to  the  desolations  of  the  war  and  to  the 

*  Minutes  of  the  Board.  > 


THE  LAST  YEAR  263 

progress  through  these  terrible  years  of  this 
great  enterprise.  He  was,  perhaps,  too  near 
the  event  to  see  how  wonderfully  his  new  foun- 
dation was  to  answer  the  fresh  demands  of 
American  womanhood  which  had  been  devel- 
oped and  encouraged  by  this  very  war. 

Now  "half  the  burden,"  the  President 
wrote,  "was  off  my  mind."^  Certain  stakes 
were  driven  to  which  he  could  work,  and  plans 
were  reduced  to  definiteness.  He  was  longing 
for  the  actual  work  and  escape  from  the  "ter- 
rible cloudland  of  solitary  speculation."  ^  He 
had  been  separated  from  wife  and  family 
for  four  months,  and  his  affectionate  nature 
was  strained  and  he  was  lonely.  He  was  lead- 
ing a  life  of  busy  routine,  breakfasting  at 
seven;  after  a  brisk  walk  into  the  country  and 
back,  disposing  of  his  great  mail;  meeting  con- 
stant callers;  "chatting  with  Father  Vassar 
who  tries  to  let  me  alone  but  cannot";  walking 
again  for  a  half-hour  before  dinner;  working 
through  the  afternoon  till  half  after  five;  and 
taking  then  "my  glorious  evening  tramp" 
"instead  of  supper,  which  I  have  eschewed, 

^  Life,  p.  552.  «  Ibid.,  p.  557. 


264      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

much  to  my  inward  salubrity.**  The  country 
about  enchants  him.  Then  he  would  have  a 
long  evening  of  work,  and  frequently  a  stop  on 
the  way  back  to  his  rooms  "  to  break  bread  and 
cheese**  with  Mr.  Vassar.  But  he  is  at  times 
"savagely  homesick.*'^  It  took  more  than  the 
founder's  sacrifices  to  organize  the  great  work. 

Now  his  first  business  was  to  issue  the  Pro- 
spectus, and  then  to  complete  his  appoint- 
ments before  the  June  meeting  of  the  Board. 

The  Prospectus,  an  adaptation  of  his  report 
to  the  Board  in  April,'^  is  important  not  only  as 
giving  us  a  closer  view  of  the  problems  already 
discussed,  but  as  a  revelation  of  what  seemed 
to  Dr.  Raymond  especially  demanded  by  the 
public  and  needful  for  it  to  know.  It  is  a 
printed  document  of  thirty- six  pages.  It  de- 
clares that  the  college  seeks  "not  a  feeble  imi- 
tation of  the  ordinary  college  curriculum,**  but 
a  general  coincidence  in  the  elevation  of  its 
aims.  It  states  the  purposes  of  the  college  in  a 
full,  but  carefully  analytical,  style. 

Firsty  physical  education  is  fundamental  and 
peculiarly  important  to  women,  though  sadly 
1  Letter  to  his  wife,  Lije,  p.  554.         '  Life,  p.  552. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  265 

neglected  among  educated  American  women. 
The  college  will  provide  rooms,  food,  hours  of 
study  and  recreation  under  careful  sanitary- 
regulation.  It  will  give  ample  facilities  and 
regular  instruction  in  exercise,  and  will  secure 
a  gymnasium  training,  encourage  outdoor 
sports,  calisthenics,  riding,  and  open-air  study 
and  instruction. 

Second,  the  intellectual  training  will  be  lib- 
eral,/or  women,  a  regular  course,  for  four  years. 
While  the  ordinary  college  curriculum  will  fur- 
nish a  guide  for  the  "essentially  similar"  intel- 
lectual faculties  of  girls,  constitutional  dif- 
ferences, intellectual  and  moral,  will  be  kept 
in  view.  The  offering  of  too  much,  the  bane 
of  seminaries,  will  be  avoided.  The  required 
studies  will  be  those  of  universal  importance, 
and  the  elective  will  be  guided  by  the  judg- 
ment of  President  and  Faculty.  Special  courses 
will  be  offered  especially  for  such  as  have  long 
ago  completed  the  then  possible  studies.  The 
regular  branches  will  be  English,  Latin,  French 
or  German,  algebra,  geometry,  natural  phi- 
losophy, botany,  zoology,  mineralogy,  geology, 
physical  geography,  anatomy  and  physiology 


266      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

and  hygiene,  outlines  of  history,  theoretic  and 
practical  ethics.  A  generous  line  of  electives  is 
offered  in  all  the  customary  college  branches, 
but  none  in  history. 

Third,  moral  and  religious  education  has  the 
"foremost  place."  No  sectarianism  will  be  tol- 
erated, but  Trustees  and  founder  wish  the  col- 
lege to  be  "a  School  of  Christ."  The  President 
and  Lady  Principal  are  charged  especially  with 
the  responsibility  for  this.  There  will  be  train- 
ing in  the  President's  classes  in  ethics  and  evi- 
dences, daily  chapel,  morning  and  evening, 
religious  services  on  Sunday,  Bible  classes,  so- 
cial religious  meetings,  private  interviews  with 
those  in  diflficulty  who  wish  to  seek  President 
or  Lady  Principal,  and  parents  may  designate 
some  Christian  minister  as  special  adviser. 
There  will  also  be  voluntary  associations,  mis- 
sionary societies,  sewing-circles,  and  kindred 
organizations. 

Fourth,  domestic  education.  The  household  is 
woman's  peculiar  province.  She  ought  to  be  an 
"accomplished  housekeeper"  if  she  hopes  "to 
be  recognized  as  a  thoroughly  accomplished 
woman."  But  home  is  the  school  for  this.  The 


THE  LAST  YEAR  267 

Trustees  are  satisfied  that  a  full  course  cannot 
be  successfully  incorporated  into  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. But  the  college  has  responsibilities  to 
teach  a  correct  theory  of  household  manage- 
ment and  to  give  some  practical  training  in 
such  domestic  duties  as  admit  of  illustration  in 
college  life.  It  will  teach  domestic  economy 
theoretically  by  textbook  and  lecture,  and  il- 
lustrate it  in  its  kitchens,  pantries,  and  table- 
service.  Where  needed,  it  will  give  instruction 
in  care  of  clothing  and  room,  in  neatness,  order, 
and  taste.  The  students  will  do  no  servants' 
work,  but  will  superintend  the  work  in  their 
rooms.  There  will  be  regular  sewing-hours  for 
all. 

Fifth,  social  education.  It  is  "hers  to  refine, 
illumine,  purify,  adorn."  The  methods  of  social 
training  will  be  womanly.  No  encouragement, 
therefore,  would  be  given  to  oratory  and  de- 
bate, which  appeared  mannish  at  that  time. 
Reading  aloud  would  be  encouraged,  recitations 
from  the  poets,  tableaux  vivants,  and  conversa- 
tion. The  college  promised  the  public  to  seek 
in  its  officers  models  and  examples.  Debating 
societies  were  pronounced  "utterly  incongru- 


268      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

ous  and  out  of  taste."  ^  The  Lady  Principal 
would  watch  manners  and  correct  faults. 

Music  would  be  encouraged,  —  social  sing- 
ing and  the  rudiments  of  vocal  music  for  all. 
There  would  be  practical  lessons  in  decoration 
of  rooms,  and  bearing  on  dress,  jewelry,  gar- 
dens, parterre  of  flowers,  furniture,  etc.  Soi- 
rees and  receptions  were  also  promised. 

Sixth,  professional  education.  The  resources 
were  said  to  be  few,  but  the  spirit  will- 
ing. There  might  be  a  course  of  lectures  on 
teaching,  but  examples  of  good  teaching  were 
assured  in  the  instructors.  The  means  of 
instruction  in  "  the  peculiarly  feminine  employ- 
ment" of  telegraphy  were  at  hand.  Phonog- 
raphy would  be  taught  and  the  lecture  rooms 
and  daily  chapel  would  furnish  opportunities 
for  its  exercise  (!).  Bookkeeping  would  claim 
attention  for  its  general  principles,  and  if  it 
was  found  practicable  it  would  be  carried  far 
enough  to  insure  a  respectable  introduction  to  a 
counting-room. 

One  suspects  that  much  of  this  was  urged  by 
the  founder  as  "practical"  rather  than  by  the 
*  Prospectus,  p.  SO. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  269 

trained  expert,  the  President.  It  is  at  least  in- 
teresting to  note  the  absence  of  reference  to 
such  opportunities,  professional  and  domestic, 
in  the  earliest  catalogue  of  the  college. 

The  Prospectus  further  gave  details  of  the 
equipment  and  the  faculty.  Descriptions  follow 
of  kitchens,  gardens,  farm,  and  laundry.  Rates 
are  fixed  provisionally.  There  are  no  extras, 
but  suflicient  charge  must  be  made  to  meet 
running  expenses.  The  use  of  the  permanent 
investment  of  about  $500,000  is  free  to  all. 
Riding,  be  it  noted,  was  offered  at  $40  per  year. 

Reference  was  made  to  the  discussion  of  va- 
cations and  the  Board's  decision  not  to  depart 
prematurely  from  usage,  the  conditions  of  ad- 
mission stated,  applicants  warned  that  more 
than  one  thousand  letters  had  been  received, 
and  that  they  must  apply  before  June  15,  that 
day  students  would  not  be  received,  and  no  pu- 
pil under  fifteen. 

The  college  thus  made  its  bow  to  the  public 
little  more  than  three  months  before  it  opened 
its  doors  to  the  students. 

The  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  convened 
in  June,  on  the  twenty-seventh.   The  founder 


270      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

reminded  the  Board  that  it  was  their  last  meet- 
ing before  the  opening,  and  recognized  "the 
favoring  Providence"  that  had  brought  them 
through  the  preparatory  stages,  through  "the 
stormy  period  of  war,"  which,  had  they  known 
the  diflficulties  it  would  involve  for  them,  might 
have  stayed  their  hands  from  the  undertaking. 
All  this  they  looked  back  upon  and  might  well 
thank  God  and  take  courage.  The  building 
is  ready,  "the  park"  has  been  laid  out  and 
graded,  seeded,  and  planted  with  shrubbery, 
shade  trees,  and  evergreens.  The  drives  and 
paths  have  been  mapped.  The  farm  is  in  order 
and  the  vegetable  garden  planted.  And  now  he 
claims  the  right  to  lay  down  his  oflSce  as  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee  which  he  had 
held,  and  filled,  for  four  years.  For  the  busi- 
ness done,  his  training  had  fitted  him;  but  now, 
he  claimed,  the  responsibility  would  involve 
larger  experience  with  educational  institutions. 
He  will  retire  with  perfect  satisfaction,  and 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  "now  surely 
drawing  to  its  close,  I  shall  look  with  assured 
confidence,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  for  the 
steady  development  and  final  success  of  this 


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THE  LAST  YEAR  271 

the  dearest  object  of  my  hopes."  "  I  retire,  gen- 
tlemen, from  my  office  and  trust,"  he  contin- 
ued, "thanking  you  kindly  for  your  generous 
counsels  and  support  hitherto." 

One  cannot  overestimate  the  service  given 
in  the  actual  building  of  the  college  by  this  man 
of  extensive  and  large  business  experience. 
Through  all  these  years  the  Building  Commit- 
tee and  Executive  Committee  had  held  weekly 
and  often  semi -weekly  meetings,  inspecting  the 
work,  adjusting  contracts  in  that  difficult  and 
often  ruinous  war-time,  studying  every  detail 
of  a  vast  and  comphcated  structure,  —  invest- 
ing the  money,  spending  it  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, investigating  new  schemes  for  light  and 
heat,  purchasing  apparatus  and  furniture,  ex- 
pending almost  a  half-million  dollars  with  care 
and  great  result.  It  was  a  day  of  justifiable 
pride  when  the  old  man  could  thus  lay  down  his 
office  with  the  sense  that  his  part  of  the  great 
problem  was  solved. 

Nathan  Bishop  was  elected  in  the  founder's 
place.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  President 
was  never  a  member  of  the  Committee  until 
1884-85. 


272      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Miss  Lyman  was  now  elected  Lady  Principal ; 
Delia  F.  Wood,  of  Boston,  to  the  charge  of  Phy- 
sical Training;  a  teacher  of  art  was  nominated, 
but  the  nomination  was  referred  to  the  Commit- 
tee on  the  Art  Gallery,  and  the  name  does  not 
appear  in  the  Catalogue.  Timothy  H.  Porter 
was  elected  professor  of  rhetoric,  belles-lettres , 
and  English  language  (this  name  also  is  not  in 
the  earliest  Catalogue);  the  appointment  of 
teachers  was  authorized  and  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee.  The  Board  adjourned, 
and  little  remained  now  but  to  fill  a  few  places 
and  await  the  new  students.  The  President  had 
borne  an  extraordinary  load  during  this  year 
of  exhausting  preparation,  and  generally  with 
great  courage  and  faith,  though  at  times  in  de- 
spondency and  anxiety.^  There  was  a  great  un- 
known factor  looming  up,  shadows  of  doubts  and 
visions  of  failure,  not  to  be  wholly  dispelled  till 
the  college  had  ceased  to  be  a  thing  of  theory 
and  pulsated  with  its  throbbing  young  life.  At 
last  came  the  opening  day,  September  twenty. 

It  requires  little  imagination  to  picture  the 
scene  as  the  young  women  from  all  parts  of  the 

1  Life,  pp.  557-58. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  273 

land  gathered  and  filed  up  the  long  avenue  from 
the  gate-house.  Some  came  as  school-girls,  to 
another  seminary  or  boarding-school,  as  it 
were,  fancying  in  some  vague  way  that  this  was 
a  new  step  forward  for  them.  Some  came  as  to 
a  Mecca,  a  holy  place  to  whose  opening  they 
had  looked  forward  as  a  sign  of  opportunity 
and  progress  for  their  sex.  All  must  have  come 
with  great  curiosity  to  see  what  had  been  pro- 
claimed through  the  land  as  a  college  for  wo- 
men so  equipped  and  officered  as  to  furnish  for 
the  first  time  in  human  history  an  education 
equal  in  grade  to  that  bestowed  on  young 
men.  One  alumna  who  entered  college  that 
day,  and  who  was  later  to  become  Maria  Mit- 
chell's distinguished  successor,  writes  that  all 
seemed  to  be  in  good  preparation  and  order; 
that  a  feeling  of  happy  cheer  prevailed  among 
the  girls,  and  kindness  and  though tfulness 
among  the  officers:  Miss  Lyman,  strong  and 
serene.  Miss  Mitchell,  brusque  and  brilliant, 
but  always  kind,  —  all  ready  to  make  adjust- 
ments in  rooms  and  room-mates,  and  all  cour- 
teous and  hospitable  to  parents  and  friends. '^ 
*  Letter  from  Mary  W.  Whitney,  January  25,  1918. 


274      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

Another  tells  of  the  omnibus  ride  from  the  sta- 
tion to  the  college  door,  —  the  waiting,  soli- 
tary and  forlorn,  till  asked  if  she  had  seen 
Miss  Lyman;  the  welcome,  the  impressiveness 
of  the  Lady  Principal,  the  preliminaries  fin- 
ished, and  then  the  exploration  of  the  new  in- 
stitution, —  girls  everywhere  and  their  kindred 
to  the  fifth  degree  of  cousinship.  Then  tea 
(supper)  was  served,  and  chapel  followed,  when 
the  founder  sat  beside  the  President,  with 
"shining  face,"  "as  the  face  of  one  who  comes 
again  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with 
him."  ^  The  writer  recalls  the  words  of  one  of 
those  students,  later  Lady  Principal  of  the 
college,  who  told  of  the  joy  with  which  she  ap- 
proached the  Main  Building,  her  face  wreathed 
in  smiles  as  she  felt  that  at  last  her  hopes  were 
to  be  realized.*  There  were  nearly  three  hun- 
dred of  them,  certainly  an  enormous  aggrega- 
tion of  girls  for  that  epoch,  and  the  numbers 
reached  a  maximum,  that  fall,  of  three  hundred 
and  thirty.* 

President  Raymond's  letter  to  his  wife,  that 

*  Martha  S,  Warner,  in  Vassar  Miscellany,  February,  1889. 

*  Abby  Goodsell.  '  Raymond's  Life,  p.  573. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  275 

day,  describes  all  as  working  very  smoothly, 
"  a  splendid  day,  and  the  buildings  and  grounds 
alive  with  people."  Already  over  two  hundred 
had  come  as  he  wrote,  and  they  "had  dined" 
three  hundred  people  in  the  hall  "quite  com- 
fortably." It  argues  well  for  a  careful  organi- 
zation that  he  sat  in  his  sanctum,  busy  with 
his  papers,  answering  such  questions  as  were 
brought  to  him.  But  "poor  Miss  Lyman"  was 
so  hoarse  she  could  scarcely  speak,  though 
"smiling  as  the  day  and  strong  as  a  lion." 
"Everybody  would  like  to  have  the  best  room. 
.  .  .  A  few  are  exceedingly  pertinacious."  That 
is  to  say  that  human  nature  is  constant. 

On  the  following  Saturday,  however,  he  was 
"very  tired,"  — with  his  first  sermon  just  be- 
fore him.  "It  seems  like  a  dream,"  he  writes, 
—  "the  sudden  transmutation  of  this  great 
lumbering  pile  of  brick  and  mortar,  which  hung 
on  my  spirit  like  a  mountainous  millstone,  into 
a  palace  of  light  and  life."  He  had  succeeded, 
Friday  evening,  in  getting  out  for  the  first  time, 
after  dark,  about  nine  o'clock,  and  had  walked 
to  the  lodge  and  surveyed  the  great  build- 
ing from  there,  and  then  walked  about  it. 


276      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

"On  every  side  it  sparkled  like  a  diamond." 
"Everywhere  .  .  .  merry  voices  were  heard  in 
conversation  and  song.  At  the  rear  pianos  were 
going,  and  you  would  have  thought  the  build- 
ing had  been  inhabited  for  years  instead  of 
hours."  "The  work  of  reducing  this  beautiful 
chaos  to  order  is,  of  course,  great,  and  we  are 
now  at  it."  His  fears  had  been  disappointed, 
and  he  was  "working  with  a  happy  heart"  un- 
der his  great  burden,  —  for  be  it  remembered, 
this  was  not  an  opening  of  an  old  institution, 
but  the  beginning  of  what,  in  its  proportions 
and  conditions,  was  a  new  experiment. 

The  founder  had  "only  just  lived  through  it. 
He  is  almost  sick  of  joy."  Here  was  the  frui- 
tion of  his  labors,  —  the  realization,  at  last,  of 
the  idea  which  had  moved  his  heart  for  ten 
years  past.  No  words  can  picture  what  that 
opening  day  must  have  meant  to  him. 

But  how  did  it  impress  the  community?  It 
must  be  recalled  that  though  this  great  build- 
ing had  been  erected  through  four  years,  it  was 
two  miles  away  in  the  country  from  what  was 
then  a  provincial  and  slow  Dutch  Hudson 
River  town,  and  was  not  connected  with  it  by 


THE  LAST  YEAR  277 

any  public  conveyance.  Moreover,  Mr.  Vassar 
was  but  a  citizen  who  had  grown  up  in  the 
town,  and  whose  great  idea  was  received  with 
doubt  by  many,  with  indifference  by  most,  and 
with  approval  and  appreciation  by  few.  The 
coming  and  going  of  the  Trustees,  semiannu- 
ally, occasioned  little  remark,  and  there  was  no 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to  seek  pub- 
licity. For  example,  after  the  most  important 
meeting  of  April,  1864,  the  "Telegraph'*  re- 
ports a  *' rumor"  that  President  Jewett  had 
resigned.  It  is  in  a  very  brief  paragraph, — 
and  the  files  in  general  do  not  abound  in  local 
news.  War  items  are  naturally  of  chief  inter- 
est. So  there  seems  to  be  no  reference  what- 
ever in  this  weekly  journal  to  the  opening  of 
an  institution  that  was  to  be  the  city's  chief 
claim  to  national  and  international  recogni- 
tion. 

The  "Eagle"  of  September  21,  however,  has 
an  article  on  the  subject.  "Yesterday,"  it  re- 
ports, "was  the  appointed  time  for  opening 
Vassar  Female  College,  and  as  the  building  has 
at  length  been  finished  and  the  preliminary  ar- 
rangements made,  we  suppose  operations  were 


278      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

commenced.  The  politeness  and  courtesy  of 
the  managers  having  been  entirely  exhausted 
in  paying  attention  to  strangers,  they  had  none 
left  for  our  own  city  people ;  and  hence  the  only 
announcement  to  the  public  from  which  au- 
thentic information  could  be  obtained  was  an 
advertisement  for  servant-girls.  ...  It  was  a 
very  peculiar  way  of  letting  folks  know  that  a 
great  educational  institution  was  completed 
and  about  to  begin  its  career.  .  .  .  We  do  not 
know  whether  any  public  exercises  were  held  or 
not,  but  presume  there  was  a  ceremony,  a  re- 
port of  which  we  will  in  due  time  be  requested 
to  copy  from  the  Pumpkinsville  Gazette,  or 
some  other  equally  interested  newspaper."  It 
reports,  further,  a  large  number  of  strangers  in 
town,  and  adds,  "Judging  from  appearances 
the  college  will  start  well  filled  with  an  intelli- 
gent and  earnest  class."  "The  opening  does 
not  promise  much,  to  be  sure,  but  we  hope  it 
will  nevertheless  prosper." 

The  prophet,  evidently,  was  not  without 
honor,  save  in  his  own  country.  It  was  many 
years  before  the  city  awoke  to  the  fact  that 
Vassar  College  was  not  only  its  chief  title  to 


THE  LAST  YEAR  279 

fame,  but  was  also  one  of  its  chief  commercial 
assets. 

We  have  already  seen  from  the  reports  of  Dr. 
Raymond  in  April  of  1865,  and  from  the  Pro- 
spectus, what  were  the  ideals  of  education 
which  the  new  college  aimed  to  realize.  The 
requirements  compare  fairly  with  the  average 
college  of  1865,  but  are  inferior  to  the  better 
ones,  and  they  were  set,  be  it  remembered,  as 
distinctly  tentative^  in  the  light  of  the  necessity 
of  preparation  of  girls  for  actual  collegiate 
standards.  Not  for  three  full  years  was  the 
curriculum  itself  to  be  really  established  on  a 
firm  basis,  —  and  it  was,  indeed,  about  1870 
that  the  colleges  in  general  found  themselves 
rearranging,  improving,  and  advancing  their 
work.  But  now,  the  final  question  concerns 
us  as  to  the  condition  of  the  education  of 
American  girls  which  the  opening  of  Vassar 
discloses  in  1865.  Was  the  standard  of  the  new 
college  high  enough  for  the  time,  and  was  its  cur- 
riculum broad  enough? 

Happily,  we  have  the  manuscript  of  Dr. 
Raymond's  report  to  the  Board  for  the  first 
year  of  the  work  of  the  college,  made  in  June, 


280      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

1866.  It  contains  the  very  material  essential  to 
a  just  answer  of  the  question,  some  of  which 
was  later  embodied  in  the  great  Vienna  pam- 
phlet of  1873,  already  referred  to.  The  report 
shows  a  contrast  with  the  ideals  of  the  Pro- 
spectus. The  year  had  passed  without  disaster, 
though  filled  with  problems  of  administration, 
with  adjustments  of  a  new  faculty  and  a  new 
student  body,  and  new  economic,  academic, 
and  social  issues.  Circumstances  had  called  for 
the  prevention  of  haste  and  of  premature  de- 
cisions, as  much  as  for  progressive  steps.  Ad- 
herence to  the  conditions  of  the  Prospectus 
would  have  reduced  the  numbers  one  half,  and 
have  made  the  task  easy.  Why  was  it  not  done.? 
Because  they  had  built  a  huge  building  and 
spared  no  expense  to  provide  excellent  living 
conditions  and  a  large  academic  force,  and  the 
war  had  so  exhausted  their  funds  as  to  make 
numbers  essential.  They  were  obliged  to  be 
patient  and  create  a  constituency,  and  them- 
selves do  preparatory  work  which  could  not 
then  be  done  in  the  schools  of  the  country.  ^ 

^  The  following,  though  dating  from  an  earlier  time,  is 
suggestive  in  this  connection:  "As  female  teachers  will  not  be 


S  as 

"  a 

^  ii 

02  _ 

§  I 

w  ^ 

ft,  ca 

W  i 

O  J! 

w  = 

O  S 

l-H  T3 

"^  .s 

>  ^ 


THE  LAST  YEAR  281 

So  the  girls  came,  ranging  in  age  from  fifteen 
to  twenty-four,  and  sporadic  cases  yet  older.  ^ 
From  New  York  came  174  during  that  year; 
from  other  Middle  States,  47;  from  New  Eng- 
land, 59;  from  Western  States,  55  (California 
was  represented :  there  was  no  transcontinental 
railway  yet);  from  Southern  States,  6;  from 
the  District  of  Columbia,  4;  from  Canada,  7; 
from  Hawaii,  1.^  In  grade  they  reached  down 
from  college  juniors  to  a  status  for  which  the 
President  had  no  measure.  The  majority  were 
within  a  year  of  freshmen,  if  not  indeed  fresh- 
men, but  their  education  had  been  uneven,  ir- 
regular, unsystematic,  and  some  were  unbe- 
lievably untrained.  The  general  preliminary 
training  was  superficial,  unpreparatory,  —  and 

employed  to  conduct  the  education  of  pupils  far  advanced, 
and  as  their  mode  of  instruction  is  believed  to  be  better  adapted 
to  the  infant  mind,  the  same  degree  of  knowledge  of  geography 
and  English  grammar  need  not  be  required  of  them  that  is 
exacted  of  males."  (Laws  relating  to  Common  Schools  in  New 
York  State,  September,  1841.) 

^  }  One  who  entered  then,  fourteen  years  of  age,  tells  of  her 
impression  of  the  old  age  of  some  of  the  students,  and  men- 
tions one  "elderly  woman"  who  said  she  had  come  because 
she  wanted  to  be  as  well  educated  as  her  son  who  was  then 
growing  up.  (From  Mary  W.  Whitney's  letter.) 
«  First  Catalogue,  1865-66. 


282      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

in  the  Vienna  report  it  is  characterized  as  a 
* '  wretched  sham . "  ^  No  class  arrangement  was 
even  possible,  and  the  adjustments  of  work  in- 
volved an  extraordinary  amount  of  labor.  The 
demand  for  special  courses,  along  the  same 
lines  of  irregularity  which  cursed  girls'  educa- 
tion everywhere,  was  very  great,  and  "even 
female  young  America"  was  found  to  have  "a 
will  of  her  own,"  The  aversions  and  excuses 
were  innumerable.  They  were  unwilling  to  sub- 
mit to  training  and  lay  foundations.  A  "large 
proportion"  was  forced  into  preparatory  work 
for  the  first  half-year.  The  better  ones  were 
not  neglected,  and  all  worked  toward  a  regular 
course. 
As  Dr.  Raymond  looked  backward,  in  the 

1  One  may  recall  Thackeray's  letter  from  the  famous  Miss 
Pinkerton,  of  Johnson  House,  Chiswick,  to  Mrs.  Bute  Crawley, 
who  has  asked  Miss  Pinkerton's  recommendation  of  two  gov- 
ernesses. The  letter  contains  the  following  recommendation 
which  gives  us  some  suggestion  of  the  claim  of  an  aristocratic 
school  in  England:  "Either  of  these  young  ladies  is  perfectly 
qualified  to  instruct  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  the  rudiments  of 
Hebrew;  in  mathematics  and  history;  in  Spanish,  French, 
Italian,  and  geography;  in  music,  vocal  and  instrumental; 
in  dancing,  without  the  aid  of  a  master;  and  in  the  elements 
of  natural  sciences.  In  the  use  of  the  globes  both  are  profi- 
cients." 


THE  LAST  YEAR  283 

Report  of  1873,  he  remarked  upon  the  zeal  and 
diligence  of  these  girls,  —  though  their  plans  of 
study  showed  little  coherency  and  no  concep- 
tion generally  of  the  subjective  conditions  of 
mental  growth  and  training.  The  parents, 
meanwhile,  dwelt  on  the  value  of  chemistry  for 
cooking  and  French  for  a  tour  in  Europe.  The 
type  has  not  yet  entirely  changed !  The  need 
impressed  on  all  examiners  was  "regulation 
authoritative  and  peremptory."  Something 
intelligent  and  fixed  was  more  essential  just 
then  than  a  perfect  system. 

But  the  brains  of  the  institution.  Dr.  Ray- 
mond declares,  were  enlisted  on  the  side  of  right 
ideals,  and  he  bears  testimony,  in  the  1873  Re- 
port, to  the  great  help  received  from  the  steady 
purpose  and  high  demands  of  these  students. 
In  short,  the  opening  year  was  an  "omnium 
gatherum," — an  ill-assorted  body  of  students 
which  only  served  to  prove  the  great  demand 
for  real  education,  and  the  need  of  a  provisional 
course  till  order  could  be  brought  out  of  chaos. 
This  condition  endured  till  1868,  when  all  was 
replanned,  and  a  steady  advance  made  possible ; 
but  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  an  attempted 


284      BEFORE  VASSAR  OPENED 

classification  gave  1  senior,  5  juniors  (4  con- 
ditioned); between  juniors  and  sophomores, 
13;  sophomores,  29  (19  conditioned);  between 
sophomores  and  freshmen,  22;  freshmen,  66 
(24  conditioned);  preparatory,  22.  The  im- 
provement was  rapid,  and  the  college  classes  in 
1872-73  numbered  235  students. 

That  first  year  was  a  great  crisis  in  woman's 
education,  and  it  was  met  in  the  spirit  of  an 
educational  statesmanship  which  bent  itself 
to  the  necessities  of  actual  conditions,  while 
urging  as  far  as  possible  its  ideals,  with  intent 
to  accomplish  them.  It  marked  the  President, 
as  all  his  subsequent  career  established  him,  as 
the  man  of  the  hour,  fitted  to  guide  this  great 
venture  to  a  success  even  more  marked  than 
the  founder  had  seen  in  his  dreams.  And  the 
founder!  He  may  well  have  been  "almost  sick 
with  joy.'*  A  plain  man,  he  had  won  a  fortune 
by  his  thoroughness,  his  attention  to  business, 
his  purpose  to  have  nothing  but  the  best.  In- 
telligent, with  a  strong,  clear  intellect,  his 
thirst  for  knowledge  had  made  him  a  reader  of 
good  books,  —  especially  of  the  poets  then  in 
favor,  Pope,  Cowper,  Young,  —  and  a  diligent 


THE  LAST  YEAR  285 

reader  of  the  Bible,  which  colored  his  language 
and  doubtless  affected  his  strong,  simple,  and 
vigorous  style.  He  was  kind-hearted,  though 
rigorous  in  business  matters,  a  friend  and  helper 
of  schools  and  the  church.  He  was  broad  and 
catholic  where  others  were  "shallow  or  narrow 
in  policy,"  ^  cautious  and  exact,  but  with  a 
large  outlook.  He  loved  the  beautiful  in  na- 
ture and  surrounded  himself,  at  Springside, 
with  the  creations  of  the  best-known  of  Ameri- 
can landscape  artists.  His  interest  in  the  edu- 
cation of  women  was  the  product  of  years, 
awakened  by  his  niece,  fostered,  encouraged, 
and  focused  by  Dr.  Jewett,  until  it  became  the 
key  to  all  his  thinking,  and  moulded  afresh  and 
deepened  and  broadened  all  his  character,  un- 
till  Matthew  Vassar  the  founder  was  a  greater 
and  diviner  man  than  Vassar  the  manufac- 
turer and  merchant.  As  his  thought  took  form, 
he  gave  to  its  realization  all  the  benefit  of  his 
wide  experience,  and  all  the  wisdom  of  his  en- 
larged and  invigorated  spirit.  As  the  cost  in- 
creased with  the  exactions  of  war-times,  his 
courage  and  steadfastness  gained,  and  all  the 
^  Baymond's  lA^e,  p.  520. 


286      BEFORE   VASSAR  OPENED 

exhausting  cares  of  those  years,  which  were 
often  punctuated  by  days  of  illness  and  phy- 
sical depression,  —  all  the  wearisome  detail  of 
building,  and  equipment  and  planning,  all  the 
hours  of  counsel  on  schemes  for  making  broad 
and  strong  the  foundations  of  a  great  educa- 
tional work  —  increased  his  joy  in  life  and 
added  to  the  happiness  of  his  final  days.  Down 
to  the  end  his  interest  was  unabated,  and  his 
thought  was  fresh  and  stimulating  and  catholic. 
When  his  final  hour  arrived,  he  sat  among  his 
chosen  councilors,  reading  his  annual  address, 
at  the  Commencement  time  of  1868,  in  the  par- 
lor of  the  great  building  to  which  he  had  con- 
secrated his  thought  and  wealth.  He  had  dis- 
cussed the  financial  outlook  of  the  college  and 
several  matters  of  business  organization,  the 
erection  of  a  hothouse  for  flowers,  provision  for 
Mr.  Giraud'sgift  and  houses  for  professors,  and 
a  projected  public  road  which  he  feared  would 
affect  plans  he  had  for  the  college  property.  He 
had  just  opened  up  the  question  of  instruction 
in  domestic  economy,  when  his  manuscript  fell 
from  his  hands  and  he  sank  back  and  expired. 
When,  an  hour  later,  the  Board  reconvened. 


THE  LAST  YEAR  287 

this  final  paragraph  of  his  address  was  read  to 
them:  — 

And,  now,  gentlemen,  in  closing  these  remarks, 
I  would  humbly  and  solemnly  implore  the  Divine 
Goodness  to  continue  His  smiles  and  favor  on  your 
institution  and  bestow  upon  all  hearts  connected 
therewith  His  love  and  blessings,  having  peculiarly 
protected  us  by  His  providence  through  all  our 
college  trials  for  three  consecutive  years,  without 
a  single  death  in  our  Board  or  serious  illness  or 
death  of  one  of  our  pupils  within  its  walls.  Wishing 
you,  gentlemen,  a  continuance  of  health  and  happi- 
ness, I  bid  you  a  cordial  and  final  farewell,  thanking 
you  kindly  for  your  official  attentions  and  services, 
not  expecting,  from  my  advanced  years  and 
increasing  infirmities,  to  meet  you  officially  again 
and  imploring  the  Divine  Goodness  to  guide  and 
direct  you  aright  in  all  your  counsels  and  social 
business  deliberations. 

So  he  died  among  his  own.  The  college  had 
taken  the  place  of  his  deceased  wife.  A  child- 
less old  man,  he  passed  out  of  life  while  hun- 
dreds of  adopted  daughters  were  gathered 
about  him,  and  a  generation  called  him  friend 
and  benefactor. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .   A 


DATE  DUE 

CAVLORO 

PRINTCOINU.S.A. 

UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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